The Forced Marriage
by littlelionalicious
Summary: AU Set in an Early Modern Europe time, Doflamingo, heir of the Donquixote family is being forced into a marriage with the heir of the Hart family, Rocinante. In order to be able to marry, Doflamingo turns into Dorathia. But on the darker side of his life, he falls for the gang-leader Corazon. Do they have something in common? DoflaRoci, RociDofla, cross!dressing, swearing, angst.
1. Introduction

"Doflamingo!" a lonely voice resounded in the empty mansion known as the Donquixote-villa. A tall woman of 40 ran through the corridors, seeking her only son.

"I should've known that worthless piece of…" shutting her mouth before she spilled a bad word, she rubbed her temples, feeling another headache coming. Her name was Donquixote Nana, part of the nobles living in the city. Married to her husband, Donquixote Ryuujirou, they had one son: Donquixote Doflamingo. Age 20, the boy did nothing but causing trouble.

"Did you see him?" she barked at the maid passing by. Scared, the woman shook her head before she kneeled.

"Useless! All of you are useless! Go do something useful and prepare some coffee in the living room!"

"Yes mistress," the girl shook, happy she could leave.

_"__Where is that damn brat?!"_

~0~

Said brat was currently in a bar, somewhere at the edge of the city.

"_Nee, nee, _Doffy!"

"You're too close! What is it?"

"Wanna join another poker-game."

"Oh really now?"

Doflamingo, a tall blond of 20, sighed as he stood up: "Fine!"

The people in the bar cheered loudly, already familiar with the flamboyant, cheerful lad who was often seen at the place. Doflamingo pushed his purple sunglasses a bit further onto his nose as he sat down at the table.

"Count me in."

"Sure thing!" the man laughed as he took some cards. Trébol, one of Doflamingo's friends, let out a rather unique laugh before he sat down.

"Why did you push him in?" Vergo, a black haired man who worked at the inspection forces. The inspection force was an organization which checked factories on everything. Hygiene, work forces, payments, shipping…

"Come on now, Vergo-_san_~," Trébol laughed: "Doffy's great at it."

Vergo sighed and glanced at his watch.

"Doffy should've been home by now!"

"Behe~… Is it already that late…?_ Nee_?"

"His parents are going to scold him!"

"His parents can go eat *** for all I care! Behe~!" Trébol was one of the few people close to Doflamingo who knew about his background. On the streets, Doflamingo was a dealer and information broker, while in real life, he was the neglected, abused son of the Donquixote-nobles. Vergo sighed.

"I don't like them either, but we can't keep causing trouble for Doffy! Not to mention he just became a legal adult*!"

"You worry too much, behe~!"

The door to the bar opened, letting the bright light in.

"Urgh, sunlight," a drunk man next to Vergo sighed: "Hey bro, wanna give me another drink?"

Vergo politely pushed the man off of him. (The man hit the ground with his head.)

"Who are those?" Vergo asked. The first one was a tall blond, around the height of Doflamingo. He wore a red hoodie, hiding his hair, as well as black sunglasses, which hid his eyes. Under his right eye, there was blackish blue make-up and he had red lipstick on, which had been smeared out into a smile reaching both his ears. Next to him was a black haired raven, wearing a black dotted white hat. He only reached the man's waist. Behind them were several others, who didn't stand out as much.

"Hearts," Trébol spat out.

"…?"

"New gang. That guy's name is Corazon. He's a real dork and on top of that a mute. Hadn't it been for that lass next to him, he'd been taken down. That one is Trafalgar Law. A rather complex person."

The persons disappeared at the back of the bar, guided by the owner.

"What are they going to do?"

"What every other gang does, behe~."

"More importantly, I need to take Doffy home!"

"Behe~!"

~2 hours later~

Rocinante sighed as he wiped off the last parts of his make-up. He quickly ran his fingers through his short, blond hair before he went downstairs. Dressed up in a grey suit with black shoes, he entered the living room and greeted his parents. His father was Hart Hooming, a gentle and nice business man. His mother and Hooming's wife was Hart Hiroko, a beautiful, elegant and wise woman.

"You called for me?"

"Yes, well, you see…" looking at his wife, Hooming sighed before he turned his gaze back to his son: "It is time for you to search for a wife, don't you think?"

Rocinante was a bit taken back. Sure, he was an adult now, but he hadn't actually thought about marriage.

"Look, we're not trying to push you," Hooming added.

"We just want you to be happy," Hiroko's voice was warm and gentle, a voice truly fitting for a woman like herself.

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Rocinante asked.

"Well, the Donquixote's are visiting us tomorrow and they are staying over. For business of course!" Hooming explained: "But Ryuujirou told me they have a daughter, around the same age of you."

"Aha… And you want me to get to know her so I can decide whether or not she is fit to be my wife?"

"Exactly."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Hiroko reassured him.

"No, it's okay," Rocinante replied: "I'll just see what kind of person she is!"

~0~

"You are the worst kind of person!" Nana cried out to her son sitting in front of her.

"Oh really? Because I don't wag my tail like a dog when you call, I'm a horrible person?" Doflamingo shot back.

"Quiet! Where were you?"

"Out."

"Don't play a smart-ass! Tell me! Were you hanging out again with people beneath our status? Do you not care for our name!" the woman paused a few seconds to catch her breath, before she continued her rant: "We are the Donquixote's! Our name itself is a proof of wealth and power!"

"Yeah, except for the fact we're almost broke," Doflamingo snapped back, furious about her indirect insult to his friends and family from the streets. Nana would've hit him if it hadn't been for Ryuujirou to enter the room.

"Darling?"

"Sweetheart. Dorathia."

Both Doflamingo and Nana turned towards the man.

"Dora-?"

"Thia?"

"Tomorrow, we'll be guests at the Hart family. And it so happens they have a son. Only a son. A son ready for marriage."

"HELL NO!" Doflamingo jumped up: "I'M NOT DRESSING UP AS A GIRL JUST TO MARRY THAT GUY!"

"Glad you understood so quickly," Ryuujirou replied: "Nana Darling, we need to buy some clothes. _Female_ clothes. As for you, train your voice will you?"

"I refuse!" Doflamingo spat out.

"You can't. Stay inside, okay? The outside is dangerous for a lovely lad like you. Okay?"

_"__Dorathia."_

*In Japan, people are adults at the age of 20

**I'm pretty sure my sense of the New Age is horrible, but hey… I think that's the last part of this fic that doesn't make sense.**


	2. First Impressions

**A/N: Whenever Doflamingo is dressed like a girl and a person other than himself is "speaking", he will be referred to as a girl or as Dorathia. I hope this doesn't confuse anyone.**

-Next Day-

"Are you nervous?" Hiroko giggled as she adjusted her husband's tie.

"No I'm not," he lied.

"You're a bad liar," Rocinante cut in.

"Oh really?" Hooming replied: "What about you two?"

"It will be fine," Hiroko smiled.

"Yeah, just listen to mom."

"If you say so."

"By the way, who _are_ the Donquixote's?"

"Well, the head of the family is Donquixote Ryuujirou. I met him at a gathering of business men a few weeks ago. The wife's name is Nana and their daughter's name is Dorathia."

"Dorathia-" Rocinante repeated: "Sounds exotic."

"Sounds a bit weird, don't you think?" Hiroko interrupted: "I've never heard a name like that before."

"Oh yeah, while they are staying here, Rocinante, I won't accept you to act like yesterday, okay?"

"Yesterday?" Rocinante repeated.

"The fact that you disappeared for three hours without saying so."

A memory flashed before the blond's eyes. Meeting up with Law and the other Hearts, entering the bar and spotting that handsome blond playing poker…

"Roci?"

"…?" looking up, he saw his mother standing in front of him.

"Your tie? Do I need to adjust it as well?"

Looking down, Rocinante noticed his tie was looking rather messy. Head blood red, he murmured a 'yes'.

"My, my, about who were you daydreaming?" Hiroko smiled: "Lately, you're a lot more absent than usual. And more quiet. Especially more quiet."

"N-No one in particular."

_"__Just a blond I've been stalking for a while because he intrigues me."_

"Well son, we can always hold a father-son conversation if you-"

"I'm pretty sure Rocinante would rather have a mother-son conversation," Hiroko coolly interrupted. Hooming fake-sighed while Rocinante grinned.

"Honestly, what is up with all these stereo-types?"

"Sorry," Hooming said in a teasing tone, earning a playful glare of his wife.

"When will they arrive?"

"Around the noon, if I'm not mistaking," Hooming replied: "But we still have lots to do."

"So they're staying here for the night?"

"Yes, we already prepared some rooms. Honestly, I hope they're looking forward to their stay here."

"I'm sure they do," Hiroko replied: "I mean, it's always nice to meet new persons."

~0~

"Looks rather, apart," Diamante, a tall brunet and close friend of Doflamingo, said as he looked inside of the black box.

"That's all you think?" Doflamingo spat back. They were currently sitting in Doflamingo's room, a rather small place with a few pieces of furniture. Sitting on his bed was a black box. Diamante sighed.

"I'm not supposed to be here," Diamante replied.

"That's okay! I want you to be here! Because you're a very important friend!"

"No I'm not Doffy," Diamante shrugged.

"No you are. I wouldn't be able to stand it here without you."

"That's too much, you're really over-exaggerating."

"Well I guess you're right."

"Fine! I'll admit that I'm one of your best and important friends!"

Doflamingo just smiled at Diamante's behavior. A man who was unable to take compliments, until you took them back.

"Are you really sure?"

"I don't really have a choice," Doflamingo replied: "If I don't go along with those _bastards_ their idea, I'll be forced to stay inside. I can't do that to the others!"

With the others, Doflamingo meant his family. A group consisting of all kinds of people, varying from age to status. People who never had a family, until he took them in. He loved them more than anything else, knowing all too well how painful it was to not have some parental love.

"I know you care about us," Diamante said: "But you don't have to go this far."

"I'm a prideful man, Diamante," Doflamingo interrupted: "But I don't mind placing my pride aside for my family. You guys are important to me."

A bittersweet smile appeared on the blond's face. Diamante sighed, feeling a bit uneasy.

"You don't have to go this far," was all he said.

"I know."

~0~

"…"

"Doffy…"

"Don't… Say… A… Thing."

"O-Okay," Diamante stuttered. Blinking, he actually found it a bit difficult to even _recognize_ his friend. Standing in front of him was Doflamingo. But at the same time, it _wasn't_ Doflamingo. His spiky, long blond hair was hidden by a wig, consisting of blond, curly hair which reached his waist. On top of his head was a red bonnet, with a fake black rose attached to the left side. He was wearing a red dress and the lower part consisted of layers, where the edges were in the same black as the rose. Around his middle was a red lint with another black rose. He wore two black high heels and around his neck was a black collar with a red rose.

"This is just horrible," Doflamingo whispered.

"You can still go back," Diamante suggested.

"No," Doflamingo shook his head: "I can't."

"Doffy!" Diamante's voice became firm, startling Doflamingo: "I know you love the family more than anyone! I know you care about them, I care about the family myself! But you don't have to dress up like a Lolita-doll for our sakes! We will be fine! On our own!"

"You won't!" Doflamingo yelled, raising his voice: "The police will shoot you down like dogs!"

"We're not that weak. You're underestimating us!"

"I'm not! I'm thinking logically!"

"You're not!"

"Just shut up and leave!"

"I don't agree with this!" Diamante replied.

"I'm your master. You're just a servant," as soon as he had said those words, guilt hit the blond.

"I know that," Diamante said, fake-bowing: "Well then, excuse me."

The door fell shut.

_"__I really fucked up."_

Diamante gritted his teeth at the other side of the door.

_"__Doffy."_

~0~

Half past eleven, a carriage pulled by horses arrived at the Hart-mansion.

"They're here Mister," Monet, the green haired maid of the villa arrived in the dining room.

"Great, I'll go greet them, thank you Monet."

The woman nodded and left. Hiroko holding his arm and Rocinante following him, Hooming went outside.

Stepping out of the carriage was a tall man, followed by a blonde. But the person who caught Rocinante's eye was the lady. She was slender and tall, dressed up as an elegant Lolita, giving her a rather _childish_ appearance, but her posture gave off a more _serious_ feeling. She was rather unsteady on her heels, making Rocinante wonder if the girl had ever worn them before. What surprised Rocinante even more was her face, or rather, the black eye-patch which covered her left eye. Her right eye was a bright blue, even brighter than his own eye-color.

"Ryuujirou!" Hooming welcomed the man: "Glad you arrived safely."

"Glad to see you safe as well!" Ryuujirou replied, shaking Hooming's hand. Hiroko moved a bit. Looking at his mother, Rocinante couldn't help but notice how… Lost in thoughts she looked.

"This is my wife Nana and my daughter, Dorathia." The two women bowed. A feeling of familiarity hit Rocinante when Dorathia looked him straight into the eye. Had he met her before?

"There's a little problem with Dorathia," the woman said. Her voice sounded rather strained and harsh: "She caught the cold and now her voice is gone."

"Oh," Hooming replied.

Dorathia pulled a face, making Rocinante almost loose his posture. From laughing.

"Well then, why don't you come inside?" Hooming said: "Oh yeah, this lovely lady is my wife Hiroko and that is my son, Rocinante."

"Nice to meet you," Ryuujirou smiled.

~0~

Hooming, Hiroko and Rocinante were seated at one side of the table, while Ryuujirou, Nana and Dorathia were seated at the other side, respectively.

"Lovely house," Nana cooed, trying to keep up a conversation.

"Oh yes it is," Hiroko replied: "It was a bit big when we first moved in, but now it's rather cozy."

"I see."

Meanwhile Ryuujirou was hungrily eyeing the whole room. Dorathia just looked straight in front of her, meaning she was staring at Rocinante, who felt kind of uneasy. Her eye was filled with something he couldn't quiet grasp. Annoyance? Desperation? Or something other than that?

"So…" Rocinante said: "Do you like… Roses?"

Dorathia bit her lip for a moment, before she nodded.

"Is… Is that why you wear roses?"

Doflamingo was laughing his ass off. Not only was the person in front of him acting so fake politely, he also sucked at starting a conversation. But so far, he hadn't shown any _romantic_ interest in him, so the blond hoped the word 'marriage' wouldn't be mentioned during their stay. But the thing Doflamingo enjoyed the most was the fact that he apparently had lost his voice. He could just mentally say whatever the hell he wanted and no one would look weird when he was unable to answer a question. Using his rather long legs, he hit the guy, Rocinante, in front of him. The tip of his heel stabbed him right into the leg.

"Ouch!" Rocinante jumped up.

"What's wrong?" Hooming asked.

"N-Nothing. Excuse me."

Alright, it was not like Doflamingo hated the guy, but he did _not_ want him to develop feelings for him. Making someone hate you is easy, especially when you're a sly manipulator as him. Doflamingo mockingly challenged Rocinante, something which didn't go unnoticed by the latter.

_"__Is she mocking me?"_ Rocinante wondered. Looking closer, he could actually make out the expression of a cruel person. A person with high-leveled skills of lying and manipulating. Dorathia formed some words.

**_"_****_I hate you."_**

Because Rocinante was able to lip-read, he could easily catch the words. Dorathia was looking at him with a rather satisfied look.

_"__This is going to be a challenge."_

End of Chapter Two


	3. Questions

After lunch, the persons seated themselves in the living room. While the others were holding a conversation, Doflamingo stared out of the window. From his spot, he could clearly see the road which lied in front of the gates of the mansion. Suddenly he spotted a rather familiar person: Trafalgar Law. An infamous rookie from the streets. Hadn't he entered the bar yesterday? Rocinante, who was sitting next to him, poked him.

"…?"

"What's wrong?"

Doflamingo stared for a moment, before he pointed out the window.

"Oh, Law's here!"

"Finally, he's a bit late," Hiroko replied: "Well, he has a key anyway."

"Who's Law?" Nana asked.

"A very nice boy, trying to become a doctor! He's like a son to us."

A weird feeling rose up inside of Doflamingo and he gritted his teeth. _Like a son to us._ The words stirred the sleeping anger inside of him. Suppressing his rage, Doflamingo stared out of the window again. He didn't want to stay here. Not at all. Standing up, Doflamingo pointed outside again.

"Dorathia," Ryuujirou said, sounding gentle, but Doflamingo could easily see the anger inside of his eyes. But the blond wasn't stupid. If his father made a scene right here, the whole 'marriage' thing would fail, something his parents were trying to prevent at any cost.

"Why not?" Hooming replied, not sensing the secret understanding between the Donquixote's: "Law will probably want to see Rocinante!"

As by miracle, Monet re-appeared in the room, bowing: "Mister, Law-_san_ would like to see Rocinante-_sama_."

"See," Hooming laughed.

"I guess it's fine," Ryuujirou admitted. Doflamingo suppressed a grin. This was going too easy. Maybe the stay wouldn't be so bad after all.

~0~

Walking around town, Doflamingo had to admit, he had some respect for the persons who could walk around high heels. He constantly stumbled and it was _annoying him to no end!_ Some stupid _assholes _even asked him if 'he needed some help'. With faces like those, they didn't even need to touch him in order for Doflamingo to _clearly_ understand what they wanted. He eventually found out the Hart-mansion was located on the opposite side of the heart of the town, so going to his usual places was impossible. Feeling rather lost, he was going to return, until he spotted a familiar person.

_Sir Crocodile._

Older than him, Crocodile was a businessman and a damn good one at that. He was wearing his usual clothes (black pants, green sash, black vest and black shining shoes), a cigar between his teeth and his badly stitched scar across his face as visible as ever. His purplish black hair was combed to the back, with a few lonely strands hanging in front of his face. Doflamingo was happy, something he wasn't that often lately. Crocodile had been so much for him: a crush, an inspiration, an idol, a rival, a brother-figure and now a dear friend. He went over to the man who was deep in thought, sitting down on a bench. Even while doing a simply thing like reading the newspaper, he gave off the feeling of… Arrogance and confidence, yet it didn't feel too negative.

"…"

Looking up, Crocodile slowly raised his eyebrow. His yellow eyes were standing bored.

"Can I sit here?" it surprised Doflamingo just how girly his voice sounded. He didn't even know he could do such things with his voice in the first place. That might be handy for in the underworld.

"Sure," Crocodile replied, going back to reading. Doflamingo sat down next to him.

"So…"

"…?"

"Are you from here?" Doflamingo asked.

"Not really," he exhaled some smoke: "I'm from the other side of the town."

_"__I already know that."_

"Why are you here then?"

"Some business."

It surprised Doflamingo just how open Crocodile was for the moment. He was going to reveal himself, until a little voice resounded inside his head.

**_"_****_Crocodile will hate you if he figures out just what you're doing."_**

Doflamingo clenched his jaw shut and probably made a pained expression, because Crocodile turned his head towards him: "Are you alright Miss?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It was nice to meet you…"

"Crocodile."

"Yes, mister Crocodile."

Crocodile stared at the blond for a second.

"Do I know you?" he eventually said. Doflamingo shook his head.

"I… Don't think we know each other."

"My mistake then," the man replied. Doflamingo quickly turned around and left.

"Alright, new rule," he said to himself: "No more speaking to friends while in this form."

He wanted to go back to the mansion when he bumped into someone.

"…!"

Looking up, he was staring at a tall person. Oh right, wasn't he that guy named Corazon, head of that new gang? Surprisingly, next to him was Law, the person he had seen just a few seconds ago. Wasn't he with Rocinante? The man named Corazon offered him a hand, which brought Doflamingo back to his senses. He slapped the hand away and stood up.

"Watch where you're going," he snapped, still using a feminine voice. Law wanted to do something, but Corazon pushed him back. Rather annoyed, Doflamingo left.

_"__I didn't know she could speak,"_ was the first thing Rocinante thought when he watched Dorathia walk away.

"Cora-_san_, why did you let that happen? She was in fault as well!"

Rocinante shook his head. Explaining things was too difficult right now. He took the boy by his arm and pulled him away.

"Do you know her?" Law finally asked after a minute of silence. Rocinante nodded.

"Who is she?"

_"__That's something I'd like to know."_

~0~

During dinner, Rocinante _stared_ at Doflamingo, something which made the blond nervous. The others in the room didn't notice, until Hiroko finally asked 'what's wrong', on which Rocinante replied 'it was nothing'. When the moon appeared, Hooming decided it was already late.

"Let me show you your rooms. Rocinante, be nice and show Dorathia hers."

"Okay. This way," Rocinante said, looking at the girl. She nodded and followed him, still unsteady on the heels.

"Do you like high heels?" Rocinante asked while walking through the corridor towards the stairs. Dorathia shook her head.

"I know you can speak," he replied. Dorathia was taken back, but the sign of surprise disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"…"

"Hey, I'm not going to judge you."

"Like I'd let you," she replied, showing a look of annoyance.

"You seem rather… Angry. Did I do something wrong?"

"The mere fact you're alive is wrong."

"Well I'm sorry my parents wanted to have a son."

Dorathia let out a giggle, which almost sounded like a chuckle.

"You're so stupid. Someone like you, it surprises me you're still alive."

"Oh really?" Rocinante replied, trying to keep calm. He was getting annoyed as well. What was up with the rude behavior? Not only did _she_ lie about not being able to talk, she also treated him like garbage.

"Of course," she sniggered: "Aren't you scared?"

"About?"

"About me slicing your throat in your sleep," she giggled: "You're probably the cuddle-type who falls asleep easily, so it won't be difficult for me to do that. Does that scare you?" the last part was whispered into his ear, so naturally Rocinante was shocked and ended up tripping over his feet.

"You're really clumsy, fufufufu~."

The laugh sounded rather masculine and gave Rocinante mixed feelings.

"This is your room," Rocinante said, happy to see they had arrived.

"Well thank you," she smiled, revealing white teeth.

Rocinante made sure to lock his room that night.

End of Chapter Three


	4. An Opening

_**A/N: A big thank you to all of those who reviewed, favorited or followed. I wasn't really sure about this story because it's still something weird, but thanks to you guys, I feel a much stronger need to continue this one!**_

Sitting down onto the bed, the first thing Doflamingo did was getting rid of that _damn annoying _wig. The second thing to go were those _heels_. After fully undressing, Doflamingo took his male clothes he had packed with him and placed his sunglasses onto his face. Feeling safer with them on, he sighed and let himself fall.

_"__I really want to leave."_

A memory of his 'family' flashed before his eyes and he bit his lip.

_"__I can't. I have to do this. For them!"_

Looking around, he spotted a window. He went over to it and let a little bit of moonlight into the room.

_"__Should wake me up tomorrow so I can fix my clothes."_

~0~

_"__He truly is useless dear! He doesn't even have brains!"_

_"__Sweetheart… We can't get any other children."_

_"__Why did we end up with this weakling?!"_

_Doflamingo slowly opened his eyes. He was sitting in the corner of his bedroom. In front of him were the vague figures of his parents._

_"__Why were you born?!" a sharp female voice sneered._

_"__You're a shame to our name."_

_"__You aren't fit to be a Donquixote!"_

_"__Or to be a human in the first place!"_

_Doflamingo gritted his teeth, but was unable to utter a word. His throat felt dry and his lips seemed to be glued together. From rage, sadness and impotence. What had he done wrong? All he had longed for was an easy life. A life where his parents loved him. He could be greedy, he knew that himself, but the love of his parents was the only thing he needed. Closeness. The figures in front of him were hurting his ears only by speaking. His eyes couldn't even make out their details and his body was unable to defend itself against the hits that followed._

_"__Sweetheart, be careful. People might see."_

_"__I know that!"_

~0~

Doflamingo jolted awake, panting, eyes widened. Sitting up straight, he embraced himself and brought his head to his knees. His chest was still hurting, like the memory had been from yesterday.

_"__Calm down. They can't hurt me. Because we're not at home."_

Part of Doflamingo wanted to lie and say it was because they loved him, but that was an over-used lie Doflamingo couldn't stand anymore. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, the blond decided he needed a bathroom. And good for him, he had no single clue where the bathroom was. Not to mention, before he would be able to get there, he had to dress up in a female night-robe. Sighing, he lied down again. As soon as he closed his eyes, the door opened.

"Dorathia?"

~0~

After showing Dorathia her bedroom, Rocinante sat down in his own, realizing he had actually locked his room. After a few minutes he found it silly and went over to unlock it, only to trip over his feet. He landed painfully onto his back.

"Uh-!"

Standing up, rubbing over the sore spot, Rocinante decided to go get some water. Quietly, he walked towards the stairs, passing Dorathia's room, only to hear some moans and suddenly some sounds of sheets being ripped, followed by panting.

"…?"

Knocking, he received no answer. Softly opening the door, he peeked inside.

"Dorathia?"

For a minute, it was silent, before he heard the feminine voice, muffled under the layers of satin: "What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Had a bad dream?"

It remained silent for a few minutes.

"No."

"Hey, it's okay! Everyone has those."

"I didn't have one."

"Okay. But… Let me share you a little trick my mom told me: you just have to repeat every nice thing someone said or did to you that day. You'll feel fine in no time!"

"…"

"…?"

"Thank you…"

"Don't worry!" Rocinante replied, happy Dorathia was getting a bit friendlier: "Well then I'll go."

~0~

The next morning, Nana stormed into Doflamingo's guest-room.

"Get up, you need to get dressed."

"…?"

"I brought some clothes," Nana rolled her eyes, annoyed at the slowness of her son: "Stand in front of the mirror and be quiet!"

Apparently Nana disliked Lolita-clothes. This time the dress was pure white, reaching his knees. Nana kept on complaining about the fact that he had to shave his legs. Before, the socks had hidden them but now they were revealed, so Doflamingo gave in and did as told. Around his middle came a belt consisting of flowers, which were a light and dull green mixed with brown. He received two white high heels and a golden bracelet. On the wig came a white net bow, also adorned with the same fake-flowers. But the weirdest thing were the fake-boobs Nana added.

"You need to look attractive."

Well Doflamingo wouldn't call this attractive and admitted he was glad Diamante wasn't there now. The Lolita-look had been okay, but now he started to really look like a lady and he didn't like it. He liked it as much as he liked his parents. Pink lipstick and blush completed the look, as well as white bandages that covered his left eye.

"Much better than that pirate-Lolita-style. How did Ryuujirou even think of it?" Nana furiously mumbled against herself. Obviously not against Doflamingo.

"Alright, let's go."

Arriving at the table, Rocinante's eyes widened, disgusting Doflamingo.

_"__If only he knew the truth."_

Ryuujirou and Hooming were chatting away about business and hobby's while Hiroko was enjoying the company of everyone else.

_"__If only I had such parents_," Doflamingo bitterly thought, sitting down.

"Glad to see you guys joined us," Ryuujirou chuckled.

"Make-up," Hooming nodded.

"Something like that," Nana smiled, although Doflamingo could tell she was pushing herself.

"So how did you sleep tonight?"

Opening his mouth to say something, Doflamingo saw his parents panicking, which only made him grin. Admitting Rocinante had been nice against him, he replied: "Good. But I didn't have one."

Ryuujirou and Nana subtle sighed in relief, hearing a feminine voice instead of Doflamingo's own.

"So, you guys are leaving today?" Hiroko asked.

"Yes, well, it's about four hours back, so we'll have to leave pretty soon."

"Won't you guys stay over for lunch?" Hooming asked.

"Well… If you really want to…"

_"__Such bad liars,"_ Doflamingo inwardly mocked: _"How am I related to them?"_

"Say, Dorathia, care to go with me for a walk in town?" Rocinante offered. Doflamingo stared at him.

_"__Oh God, this is __**not**__ happening."_

"Oh yes, that's a great idea!" Nana interrupted.

_"__I could've expected her to jump onto it."_

~0~

And so the two ended up in town, walking on the market between all the little stalls. For some reason, Rocinante had ended up holding Doflamingo's arm gentleman-style and if it hadn't been for the fact that he couldn't walk on high heels, he would've pushed the blond off of him.

"What's that?" Doflamingo's curiosity got the better of him as he pointed towards one of the stalls.

"Macarons."

"Macarons?"

"They're very sweet. You don't know them?"

"Not really."

"Well, they're a sort of confectionery and the filling in between the cookies varies a lot."

"Oh… They smell good."

"Want to try some?"

"Eh?"

"Come on," Rocinante said, pulling Doflamingo with him. After buying a bunch of them, they sat down onto a bench nearby.

"Here."

"…" Doflamingo hesitantly took the macaron. It was pink and so was the filling.

"Probably strawberries with jam. Just try, I promise you'll love them!"

Doflamingo raised his eyebrow sarcastically, an action he regretted as soon as he had taken a bite. The cookie practically melted away, leaving behind a sweet taste with a bit of bitterness lying underneath.

"It's really great!"

"I know right! They're one of my favourites."

"You like sweets?" Doflamingo asked.

"Yeah, I'm _that _kind of guy," Rocinante sheepishly laughed.

"That kind of guy?"

"The over-romantic guy that likes sweet things," Rocinante shrugged, looking away.

Doflamingo smiled: "Really?"

"Yeah. I really wanna go to French too."

"French?"

"Sorry, that was a bit random," Rocinante said, giving the blond another one of the sweets.

"Why?"

"Well, French is known as the city of romance right? I really think it'll be nice to go there. Not to mention all the monuments to see."

"Hm… So you speak French?"

"Je pense que je peux parler Français," Rocinante replied.

"Eh?"

"I think I can speak French," Rocinante translated.

"Heh."

"What about you? Any city you want to visit?"

"Hm…" Doflamingo tapped his chin for a moment: "Not really… I'd rather just go to a country _together_ with someone."

"You don't like travelling alone?"

"No, I love to be with friends and family," Doflamingo replied: "But let's go."

"Okay."

Taking the bag with macarons in one hand, Rocinante offered Doflamingo his arm. The blond hesitated, but decided there wasn't really something that could go wrong so he accepted.

"Why do you wear high heels?" Rocinante said while walking: "I mean… Why would you wear something that makes you uncomfortable?"

_"__Lots of reasons."_

"My, how rude of me. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it's okay. But, I guess there's always a reason for anything?"

"Not always," Rocinante replied: "Not always."

But he didn't explain what he meant.

"Hey, Dorathia…"

"Hm?"

"You… Really seem like a mysterious person to me."

"Eh?"

"And I can't help but think I know you from somewhere else."

"Aha… Really?"

"But, I'd really like to get to know you."

_"__Where is he going at?"_

"So would you mind if I invited you for a dinner somewhere in the town once?"

Doflamingo's first reaction was to say no, but looking straight into Rocinante's eyes, he felt a bit uneasy. Something about Rocinante's eyes, those navy eyes, caught him off guard. Maybe it was the fact those eyes didn't shown any sign of deep pain or sadness. The eyes of a young man who didn't know anything else than happiness, the complete opposite of Doflamingo's empty eyes.

"When?"

End of Chapter Four


	5. Joker & Corazon

**A/N: When another person from the streets is 'talking' about Doflamingo or Rocinante, they will be referred to as Joker or Corazon respectively. Doflamingo and Rocinante will also refer to each other like this in this chapter. If this confuses you, just remember: Doflamingo is Joker and Rocinante is Corazon. (There is also no 'corazon'-executive in Doflamingo's gang, who now gained the name 'Card-gang'.)**

After lunch and a promise with Rocinante to meet up soon, Doflamingo, together with his parents, left the Hart-mansion.

Once inside the carriage, Ryuujirou let out a sigh, before he spoke: "They're filthy rich."

"Yes!" Nana nodded, greed clearly visible in her eyes. Doflamingo ignored it and stared out of the window, watching the scenery change like a beautiful painting.

"So how are things with Rocinante?" Nana's voice dropped from happy to annoyed. Doflamingo just answered with a short 'good'. For the rest of the ride, he remained silent, something he had done almost whole his life.

Once in his room, Doflamingo let out a groan from frustration and threw the high heels through the room, as well as the wig. Like he cared how much they had cost. Diamante's head appeared: "Doffy?"

"Yes?"

He entered the room and sat down onto a chair nearby.

"So how was it?"

"Weird," Doflamingo admitted: "But nothing I can't handle. Fufufufu~."

"Good to hear," Diamante smiled.

"So how were things here?"

"Trébol and Vergo took care of most things," he shrugged: "Anyways, what's up with the dress?"

"Urgh, I need other clothes."

"Got it!" Diamante jumped up and ran out of the room.

After dressing up in a black suit with a pink tie, he placed his purple sunglasses onto his face and slung his pink feathered coat around his shoulders.

"Let's go!"

"Oh yeah," Diamante sighed: "Seems like Hearts is interrupting our business."

"Hearts?" Doflamingo asked, remembering seeing Corazon and Law. Right, Law!

"Oi Diamante."

"Hm?"

"What do you know about Law?"

"Isn't he a Heart-henchman?"

"Fufufufu~… Interesting. Seems like there are a lot of others out there with secrets."

"…?"

Grinning, the two left the mansion. Once inside their normal bar, they were greeted by Vergo and Trébol.

"Nee, nee Doffy, _okaerinasai_!"

"Thank you," Doflamingo groaned. Trébol, once again, had invaded his personal space.

"Young master!" a slender, raven haired woman came running towards the three. Next to her was a shorter, younger blond.

"Baby 5. Dellinger," he greeted the newcomers.

"Where were you? We were so worried!"

"Nothing to worry about… Just some… Business."

It wasn't a complete lie because for his parents, it _was_ business.

"Joker," the bartender, Bluenote, appeared.

"Bluenote… What's up?"

"There's someone in the back that wants to speak you."

"Eh?"

"Follow me."

Diamante, Trébol and Vergo shot Doflamingo a 'do-I-have-to-go-with-you-look' but Doflamingo shook his head. He could handle it on his own. Following Bluenote, they went behind the curtain, the stairs up to a little dark room. Sitting on one of the few chairs was Corazon. Bluenote made a gesture for Doflamingo to sit down as well. Honestly, the blond was having a good time. It surely had interested him just why Corazon wanted to speak him.

"I'll go now," Bluenote said, leaving.

The first minutes that followed where filled with silence. Rocinante was carefully observing Joker. Finally, the blond that intrigued him so much was alone. His clingy henchmen were gone and no one could hear them. A perfect chance to get to know him, right? Doflamingo, on the other hand, was growing bored. He wanted to walk around but kept on sitting down, waiting for Corazon to _say_ something. When this didn't happen, he snapped.

"Why did you want to speak me?"

Rocinante inhaled his cigarette before he replied. With a shake of his head.

"Eh?"

Pulling out a paper and a pen, Rocinante wrote something down.

"Great," Doflamingo muttered. _A mute._

Rocinante, who almost read Joker's mind, made a small grin appear.

_I heard I am interrupting your business._

"Eh? Yeah… Probably," Doflamingo replied, not really caring about such trivial matters. Honestly, he was one second away of picking his nose from boredom.

_Who are you?_

The next question made Doflamingo raise his eyebrow. He didn't know him?

"What do you mean?"

_I only know you're the leader of the Card Pirate gang, Joker, like you call yourself. But what is your real name?_

Doflamingo smirked. Seemed this conversation might become something interesting after all.

"My real name _is_ Joker."

Rocinante raised his eyebrow.

_Like in the card, the Joker?_

"Spot on," Doflamingo grinned: "And you must be Corazon, head of the Hearts."

A nod.

"By the way, what's under the hat?"

Corazon titled his head to the left, probably questioning his question, but then pulled it off. Under it was a messy bunch of blond hair.

"A blond too huh?" something familiar hit Doflamingo but he couldn't explain what it was.

_What's under the sunglasses?_

The question made Doflamingo a bit uneasy.

"I'd rather not talk about it. It's kind of personal."

Rocinante gave an understanding nod, before he scribbled something else down.

_Are you free tonight?_

The question startled Doflamingo, before a thought hit him. Was Corazon _interested _in him? Not like in, 'another gang-leader', but more like, 'who is _he_'?

"Wouldn't you like to know," Doflamingo smirked.

_Guess you aren't. Well then, I'll ask someone else. I have to go now. I hope we don't interrupt each other's business again._

"Wait a moment," Doflamingo let out, curiosity getting the better of him, which happened a lot lately.

Rocinante smirked, unnoticeable for Joker. Sure, he had heard all the nasty rumors about the man in front of him. How he was a cruel, twisted and manipulative man, who was on top of that also sly and almost worshiped by his gang-members. But the first time Rocinante had seen him in town, he had felt something else for him: interest. Something about this man kept on drawing him closer. And on top of that, he himself was also very skilled when it came to manipulating others.

"What were you planning on doing," Joker turned his head towards Rocinante. The blond shrugged.

_Anything actually._

A brief smile appeared on the face of the man in front of him.

"Oh really now? Well then, _Corazon_, I might make some time free for you."

The words made Rocinante's heart skip and he did his best to keep cool.

_Oh really now? Well then, I guess we can meet up… Around ten 'o clock in the evening in front of this bar?_

"Fine by me," Joker replied and with that said, he left the room. In front of the door, he waved and then he disappeared. Rocinante sighed and let his head fall onto the table.

_"__I wonder what I'm getting myself into."_

~0~

That evening, Diamante entered Doflamingo's room, surprised to see a fully dressed one.

"Doffy? Where are you going?"

"Out," Doflamingo shrugged: "Help me would you."

"Okay! But where are you going? I can't remember you had an appointment."

"I'm going to meet someone special."

"Doffy," Diamante sighed: "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Okay."

~0~

When Doflamingo arrived, he noticed Corazon already standing there.

"Really? You beat me? How long have you been here already?"

Corazon shook his head. Doflamingo tried to figure out what he meant until Corazon wrote it down.

_Isn't important._

"Okay. So… What are you planning on doing so late in the night?"

Corazon shrugged before he pulled something out. It was a little bag with a note on it.

_Do you want some?_

Doflamingo hesitantly took the bag of the gang-leader and peeked inside. It was filled with lots of colorful macarons.

_"__S-Seriously? H-How did he know that?"_

Corazon titled his head to the left. By now, Doflamingo had figured out it meant he was either questioning something or asking for an answer.

"Where did you get these? I'm pretty sure you can't get them in this part of the town."

Corazon wrote another thing down.

_They're from another part of this town._

_"__Don't tell me they're from the part where Rocinante lives. Wait, I did see Corazon there with that Law-guy. Wait, why am I even thinking of that idiot?!"_

"Why would you give some to me? You probably traveled far for them."

Corazon shrugged, which probably meant something along the lines of 'I-don't-mind'.

When Joker took out the pink one, Rocinante smiled. If he remembered correctly, the first one Dorathia had eaten had also been a pink one. Still, he hadn't expected Joker to actually eat macarons. A lot of people from this part didn't know them, so they weren't used to their taste. Without noticing, the two started walking, occasionally gazing at the stars. The lights on the streets were rather dim, making it hard to see something. Suddenly Rocinante tripped and while inwardly cursing, he fell right onto his back. Joker stared at him for a few seconds, before he let out a laugh. The laugh sounded familiar, for some reason.

"Let me help you!"

Rocinante gratefully took the outstretched hand and let himself be pulled back onto his feet.

"It's getting late…" Doflamingo sighed: "But I know something fun we can do."

"?" Rocinante looked up.

Taking of the black sunglasses, Doflamingo was greeted by two green eyes.

_"__Weird. For some reason I had expected them to be blue. Ah, I guess that doesn't matter. Let's see how much fun I can have with this guy."_

Softly getting closer, Doflamingo let his lips brush against Corazon's, noticing the man stiffening.

_"__Fufufufu… Seems he's rather shy~."_

"Nee, Corazon… Issho ni asobimashou ka?*"

Not waiting for a reply, he closed the gap between them and kissed him.

*Do you want to play (together)?


	6. What you start

**A/N: This chapter contains the worst lemon you'll ever read so feel free to skip it. (I'm being serious over here, I suck at writing things like that). Rating changed from T to M. This lemon is a RociDoffy one.**

Honestly, Rocinante _didn't_ enjoy it. The kiss was rather rough and demanding and had come out of nowhere, he didn't know what to feel. Joker however, seemed to enjoy himself. When a wet tongue slid over his lips, he pulled back. Joker was mockingly staring at him.

"What's wrong?" he almost purred. Rocinante shook his head.

_Someone might see us._

"Then do you know any place?"

Rocinante shook his head another time.

"Then we have no choice!" Rocinante was being dragged away by Joker until he recognized the place… They were standing in front of the bar where they came from. He raised his eyebrow and looked at Joker, who fished a key out of his pocket.

_"__He has a key of this place?"_

"Bluenote won't mind," Joker hummed as he unlocked the door and guided Rocinante. They went through the curtains and instead of going upstairs, they went downstairs, arriving in front of a steel door with a lock. Using the same key, Joker opened it and pushed Rocinante inside of it. It was a room with a dark wooden floor. There was a huge bed in the middle of the room, crimson sheets and white pillows. Standing against one wall was a closet, also with a lock and on the right was yet another door. Next to the bed were two nightstands, each with a lamp.

"Seems like the place is still the same as ever," Doflamingo grinned, looking to Corazon. The blond seemed to be frozen.

"So," Doflamingo sat down onto the end of the bed, elbows resting on his knees while his chin rested on his hands: "Want to take my offer?"

Rocinante felt angry. Screw that, furious. How _dare_ he?! He immediately understood the moment he had entered. This was some sort of playroom. No. It was Joker's playroom. And he was his newest toy: ready to be used and then to be disposed of. Well, he was not going along with this. But a little voice in the back of his head spoke.

**_"_****_It's the perfect opportunity! You don't have to let him play with you. Just play with him."_**

The idea sounded rather appealing, so Rocinante stepped forward. A grin appeared on Joker's face.

"Since you were so nice to take my invitation, I'll let you in to one of my secrets. You wanted to know my real name right?"

Rocinante nodded.

"My real name is Doflamingo."

Doflamingo. A rather apart name, but it did fit the feathered coat he walked around with. Come to think about it, it seemed like he wasn't wearing it for the moment. Was he trying not to stand out? Rocinante smiled a bit. At least he had learned something. He roughly pushed Doflamingo onto the bed, crawling on top of him. Bringing his face close to the blond, he licked him. The other one just laughed.

"Seems you aren't shy anymore."

As a reply, Rocinante tried to remove the tie. Seeing he couldn't do it, Doflamingo laughed once more and removed it himself. Moving on, Rocinante unbuttoned both his vest as well as his shirt, exposing Doflamingo's skin, which was slightly tanned. Eying the muscles, he started licking his stomach. Getting a groan as response, he moved upwards to one of his nipples and started sucking on it, pleased to hear the blond produce some other sounds of pleasure. Shifting his weight, he sat down onto Doflamingo's groin, getting a gasp as response. Surely, the blond hadn't expected _him_ to take control, huh? He softly pulled at the nipple, getting another groan. Moving downwards, he teasingly went closer to the south, hearing Doflamingo's breath growing shorter. He teasingly looked at Doflamingo before he jumped off him and removed his pants as well as his boxers. Doflamingo moved his legs and slipped the clothes off. They fell off the bed. The vest and the shirt shared the same fate. Seeing the completely naked Doflamingo was a huge turn on for Rocinante, as he could feel something throbbing. He removed his shoes, pants and underwear, getting a questioning look from Doflamingo. He smirked, but didn't feel the need to explain. Instead, he went over to Doflamingo and started stroking his erected member, getting a moan out of him.

"Guess you'll be topping then," Doflamingo panted. Rocinante skilfully avoided showing any sign of that he had heard him, instead he used his tongue to lick the top of it.

"…!"

Before going down to the base.

"Ah…"

Repeating the same movement, he tried to squeeze as much sounds as he could out of the blond. Soon his member was throbbing and dripping, while Doflamingo himself was getting restless.

"What are you planning on doing?"

_What do you want to do?_

He quickly wrote it down, because damn, which sane person would write while doing an activity like this? Doflamingo smirked.

"Letting me choose my own torture huh?"

He pulled Rocinante towards him, placing him against the board of the bed, before he started sucking his member. Not prepared to have it taken in all at once, Rocinante bit onto his hand to stop his voice from coming out. He could not screw up now! Doflamingo seemed to be better at it, as he easily used his tongue to do all kinds of things. Something stirred inside of Rocinante. Jealousy? Who else had Doflamingo been playing around with?

"You're pretty tall, in both sizes."

Not knowing whether to take it as a compliment or not, Rocinante just stared at the blond in front of him. It was getting difficult to breath, so a part of him was grateful when Doflamingo stopped licking him down _there_. Doflamingo inserted two fingers inside his mouth and sucked on them, before making them enter him. While doing so, he was staring at Rocinante, occasionally letting out moans and whimpers. His erection was getting painful and he was growing short on patience.

"What's wrong?" Doflamingo feigned innocence, obviously noticing what was wrong.

"…"

"Guess I'm ready," he said. He placed himself above Rocinante's arousal, using his shoulders to support himself. The tip of his member grazed his entrance and Doflamingo let himself fall onto it. He let out a yelp and clenched his jaw shut. Realizing he probably needed a few seconds to adjust, Rocinante waited until the blond opened his eyes again. He moved himself up and Rocinante grabbed his middle, slamming him down again.

"Aah!" not expecting Rocinante to interrupt, the blond yelped again.

_"__I won't let you play with me."_

Rocinante started creating a pace, getting complaints of Doflamingo.

"S-Slo- aah, down! I me- aah!" Rocinante probably hit _that_ spot because soon hot semen splashed everywhere.

"Eh?" Doflamingo let out. Still high of his release, he moved himself, using Rocinante's shoulders as a support. Rocinante himself couldn't help but feel something warm inside of him.

"…"

Biting down onto his lip to not let a single moan escape, he released deep inside of the blond.

"…?" Doflamingo opened his eyes: "Did you come inside? Bastard!"

Rocinante half-grinned, half-smiled before he let himself rest against the board. It had really exhausted him. Doflamingo stood up and Rocinante couldn't help but smile when he noticed the blond was having it rather difficult to stand up.

"You want to take a bath?"

"…?"

"There's a…. Bathroom… Over there…" Doflamingo panted, pointing at the door.

Rocinante gave a nod.

End of Chapter Six


	7. The bird without wings

Doflamingo and Corazon were sitting together in the bathtub. Luckily the tube itself was large, considering both men were tall.

For some reason, Doflamingo didn't like it. It was the first time he had came so quickly. Why was it so? Because of the way they did it? Probably not, Doflamingo remembered doing something similar to that with Kaidou. No, it wasn't the position. What was it then? The man in front of him? Surely not! He was just a toy, a rather appealing, pleasurable toy, but nonetheless a toy. Doflamingo had a rather firm opinion when it came to sex: it was a one-night only thing and both parties should _not_ meet each other the day after it. Or the day after that. To be honest, they just had to keep quiet about it and move on. Only a few had broken Doflamingo's opinion and most of the time, Doflamingo hadn't liked it.

Rocinante, unaware of Doflamingo's rather, exceptional thoughts, was staring at the bathroom. It was small, but still looked expensive. Was this really Doflamingo's? Or was it Bluenote's? And if it was Doflamingo's, what had happened here before?

Doflamingo. Rocinante liked the name. It sounded so strange, yet so appealing.

So they sat down in silence, each to their own thoughts. Until Rocinante used his finger to write something on the wall with the water, hoping Doflamingo could read it.

_Why do you have scars on your back?_

-Flashback-

It was a rather cold autumn day. Five years old Doflamingo had been playing on his room, avoiding his parents. They were rather irritable lately and he did not want them to get angry at him for no reason. So there he sat, playing quietly. The door opened and Diamante appeared: "Doffy? You need something?"

"Are you leaving?"

"I have a day free. Or would you rather have me staying here?"

Doflamingo shook his head: "No it's okay."

The door fell shut again.

After five minutes, Doflamingo grew bored, so he went outside his room. He didn't spot anyone, so he started running down the hallway, occasionally pretending to be a pirate, a swordsman or a ninja. Fighting invisible enemies, he was enjoying himself until his leg hit a vase. A vase out of Dressrosa, a rather unknown island to the world. It had been a gift from Doflamingo's uncle, an explorer. Soon another door slammed open and footsteps could be heard on the stairs.

"What happened here?!"

-End of the Flashback-

Doflamingo shook his head and laughed: "Nothing to worry about! When I was a kid, I used to have a lot of accidents involving me falling from the stairs."

Rocinante knew you didn't get _such_ scars from falling from stairs (obviously because he used to fall a lot from the stairs too) but he decided to let it slip. All people have secrets, so it was alright.

After getting out and drying themselves, the two lied down once again on the bed (although Doflamingo did remove the first pair of sheets).

Listening to Corazon's breath was actually calming, if you asked Doflamingo. And his scent was also calming. It reminded him on autumn, inside a forest. All kind of scents that blended together. Looking to his side, he saw Corazon was already asleep. Doflamingo gently slipped out of bed and put on his clothes again. He needed a smoke. He went outside and noticed just how dark it was.

"Really late. Guess I'll have to rely on Diamante to get back inside tomorrow."

"If it isn't our little bird."

"What do you want," Doflamingo sighed, holding his cigarette between his fingers.

"Nothing… Just wondering if my little bird's wings have healed. So? Ready to take flight once more?"

Doflamingo let out a snort.

"Why would I? I know you'd shoot me down."

A laugh followed.

"Now, now, Doffy. That's cruel."

"That's my line," the blond shot back, inhaling the smoke.

"You know I'd never hurt you. Well at least not to such an extent."

"Keep on telling yourself that. Listen, I'm not interested in talking to you anymore," the blond sighed: "So please leave!"

"I can't do that. Not now I found my favourite bird back."

"Just shut up and leave," Doflamingo found himself in a situation he really didn't want to be in. Normally, he was calm because he was always able to get out of it. But not with this person. This person was everything he hated, yet was one of the few who was able to _catch_ him. He longed to be free and this person hit him with the hard truth. He would never be free. If he would ever be able to escape from his parents, this person would catch him and show him where he belonged again.

**_"_****_Someone as beautiful as you belongs in a cage. So that I can admire you every moment. So that I can see every minute of your life. So I can be part of your life. I'll give you everything you want. That's why I bought these for you. They are a great contrast against your skin and your slime body. I'm sure you'll enjoy them."_**

Doflamingo tried to shake the memory out of his head: "Just shut up, bastard."

He went inside again and took a bottle of wine. Bluenote wouldn't mind, after all, they were good friends. Bluenote had Doflamingo seen grow up inside his bar. He could hear laughter outside, making shivers run all over his spine.

_"__Please leave. Leave, leave. Leave, leave, LEAVE!"_

He bit his trembling lip and tried not to cry.

Corazon appeared inside the room.

"Corazon?"

A note.

_You weren't in the room anymore so I came to check on you. Who's the one outside?_

"My King," Doflamingo bitterly smiled. Corazon tilted his head to the left.

"You don't need to know."

"Doffy~," a sing-sang voice came from outside: "Little, little birdie… When are you going to come out and play?"

Corazon tilted his head to the other side.

"It's nothing," Doflamingo gritted his teeth, trying to keep control. He was close to breaking down. Honestly, the night had been so much fun. And now this bastard was here. Corazon stepped to the door.

"What are you going to do? Stop it!"

All Corazon did was shaking his head, before he went outside.

"…!" Doflamingo didn't know what to do anymore. He fell down onto the floor, the closed bottle of wine in his hands. It wouldn't comfort him. It had never comforted him.

~0~

Rocinante was furious. After seeing Doflamingo, the man he was attracted too, in such a state, his heart had almost burst. He was ready to punch the bastard that was outside, but a part of him was able to prevent that. Right. He had to be calm. Stepping outside, he noticed just how cold it was. A stark contrast with the warmth Doflamingo and he had shared just a while ago. In front of him was a rather large, cloaked man. When the man saw Rocinante, he started laughing. It was a maniacal laughter, which sent shivers all over his spine. Rocinante sent the man a gesture. He wanted to move a bit further. The man nodded, still chuckling. They went to the end of the street.

"So, who are you?" the man asked, a voice which resembled a growl. For some reason, Rocinante felt like the man was _looking down onto him_. He didn't like it.

"That doesn't matter, who are you?" he secretly hoped Doflamingo wouldn't be able to hear him.

"I'm little bird's King."

Rocinante's eyebrow twitched.

"Little bird?"

"Ah… Maybe… You're a play toy?"

Rocinante clenched his fists.

"My, my, you really are!" another fit of maniacal laughter. The sounds echoed through the empty street.

"Ah, little bird has such strange hobbies, hasn't he? I hope he's still vital."

"Just what is your relation to him?" Rocinante growled.

"Ah, didn't our little noble tell you?"

"Noble?" Rocinante exclaimed. _"Doflamingo is a noble?"_

"Oops, slip of my tongue. Aah, he's really going to scold me," the man waved at Rocinante: "Take care of him will ya? That is, until he grows bored of you."

"…?!"

"Don't take it personal, he's a rather difficult person to please. Not to mention I don't think you're able to please him at all. Both physically and mentally!"

"Leave him alone. Can't you see he hates you?!"

"Oh yes, he hates me, he always has. But you know, without me, he would've been dead. He can think whatever he wants, but he _owes_ me his life."

It happened before Rocinante really realized what he was doing. He launched forward, throwing a punch at the man. However, said one easily dodged.

"Now, now, don't get so angry. Instead, enjoy your time with little birdie!" the man walked away.

"Because soon, he'll be all _mine_ again," the voice of the man faded away.

_"__Just what was that all about?"_

Going back to the bar, Doflamingo was nowhere to be found.

"…"

_"__I can't let my voice out."_

He went downstairs and peeked inside of the room. No Doflamingo. Or wait… He could make out a figure sitting against the side of the bed, blanket wrapped around him. He went inside and closed the door, shocked when he heard the lock click. He went over to Doflamingo and gently crawled under the blanket, sitting side to side with him. For a while, only their breaths were heard. Occasionally, Doflamingo would glance to him, but he didn't say anything. Eventually, Doflamingo placed his head onto Rocinante's shoulder and let out a sigh. All Rocinante could do was wrap his arm around him and pull him closer, startled by how cold the blond was.

_Do you want to talk about it?_

Doflamingo stared at the note for a good five minutes.

"I guess it's alright to tell you," he whispered: "You see, I started living on the streets when I was young. Like, _really_ young. One day, I got cornered by this gang and… The guy you just met… He saved my life. He offered me protection and placed me in a situation, I couldn't refuse. He was obsessive and abusive. He even made a cage for me. A birdcage! Out of gold!"

Doflamingo shivered for a bit.

"He locked me up and every time I tried to escape… Well… Let's just say he couldn't laugh with it. One day I did escape. Well, more likely he let me escape. Even he knew he couldn't keep me inside for whole my life. Ever since then he's been watching me. It scares me. To be followed. To know this," Doflamingo became quiet. For a moment, they didn't say anything. Rocinante felt uncomfortable. He pushed himself closer against Doflamingo, hoping to calm him down. And warm him up.

"Please keep that secret. I don't even know why I spilled it."

Rocinante nodded.

'Thanks. I guess we should go to bed."

Another nod.

End of Chapter Seven


	8. Destroyed marriage?

**A/N: A big thanks to everyone who favorites, follows or reviews! And also to those who took their time to read this! This fanfiction is really important to me, so seeing how others enjoy it really makes me happy ^w^**

**Also, the cover image has changed. This lovely picture was drawn by the talented dinkyicarius (tumblr) based on chapter Seven.**

When Rocinante woke up, he found another blond cuddled against him. First he tensed up, only to relax again. Of course, it was Doflamingo. Petting the man onto his head, he tried to remember everything that had happened. Suddenly his hand hit Doflamingo's sunglasses.

_"__No way. He slept with them?"_

Come to think about it, even though he had removed _his_ sunglasses, Doflamingo had kept his on. It made him curious, but he wouldn't fall as low as to remove them while the other one was vulnerable. He suddenly heard footsteps coming towards their room, followed by a knock.

"…!"

"Joker?" Bluenote's voice could be heard: "Who did you pick up from the streets this time?"

Rocinante barely suppressed a hiss. So Doflamingo had done this before! Looking to his side, all the anger melted away. Doflamingo looked peaceful and a part of Rocinante knew he _couldn't _be mad. It wasn't like Doflamingo and he were lovers or something. To be honest… What _were_ they? He didn't want to think about _that_ option.

"Alright, I'll come back when you wake up."

Looking at his watch, Rocinante realized with horror that his parents expected him at noon. He quickly scribbled something down and nudged Doflamingo, hoping to wake him up. The blond murmured something and rolled onto his other side. Sighing, Rocinante couldn't help but think it was cute.

_"__I guess I'll have to leave. Even though it's rude."_

Placing the note next to Doflamingo, he placed a kiss on said one's forehead, before he finished dressing up.

"I hope to see you again, Doflamingo," he whispered before unlocking the door to the bar.

~0~

Doflamingo slept. That was a miracle on its own. Having posttraumatic stress disorder, sleeping had always been a reason for him to hate the night. But when he woke up, he felt better. His body felt less tired and he was warm. Two things that didn't match his view of 'waking up'.

"Eh?" looking around, the first thing he noticed was Corazon. Or rather, Corazon's disappearance.

"Corazon?" sitting up, he noticed the note next to him.

_I wanted to wake you up, but you were too cute while sleeping, so I decided not to. Sorry to leave you in such a shitty way, but I promised some people dear to me to meet up with them at noon and it's a rather long way to them. I hope you can forgive me and let's meet up soon again! =^0^=_

Doflamingo stared at the note. Was this silly note really written by Corazon? Or was Bluenote pulling _yet another prank_ on him. Sighing, he fixed his glasses and dressed up. Inspecting the room to make sure no evidence was left behind, he moved his hand through his hair and opened the door. Coming face-to-face with Trébol.

"Doffy! Behe~!"

"Too close!" Doflamingo complained: "What do you want?"

"Behe~! I was worried about you, you know. _That man_ is in town."

"I know," Doflamingo growled but Trébol didn't catch it. He went further up, this time meeting Bluenote who was cleaning the bar. The man gave a nod.

"Yes, no evidence left."

Another nod.

Trébol tailed Doflamingo as he left.

"Nee, nee, Doffy! Diamante told me you were meeting someone, behe~… Who was it?!"

Before Doflamingo could reply, Vergo appeared. He looked rather exhausted and angry at the same time, something that wasn't seen often of him.

"Doffy, you have to get home right now! Your parents are furious you aren't there! Diamante just contacted me and he's completely _freaking out_!"

Doflamingo's eyes widened in surprise: "Eh? Why-"

"Just go!" Vergo yelled, pulling Doflamingo with him.

"Eh, see you later Trébol!" he managed to yell: "Oi Vergo, slow down!"

"You have to hurry! Diamante said I had to tell you it had something to do with a certain Dorathia."

"Oh shit," Doflamingo cursed. The two men started running.

~0~

"Where were you?!" Nana screeched, trying to launch her onto her son. Doflamingo effectively dodged.

"Out."

"Don't give me that-!"

"Nana!" Ryuujirou cut in. She fell silent.

"It doesn't matter. Doflamingo, go dress yourself. There are new clothes in your room."

_New clothes._ The words itself made his blood boil. The vein on his forehead started throbbing, but he did as told.

This time he was wearing a blue dress. It was narrow and followed his body-lines completely. Under it were two blue heels (Doflamingo swore he would break his legs soon) each with a ribbon to the back. Around his middle was a lint with a bow on the back. The wig was placed back onto his head and this time a diadem was used. It was blue with white spots. He wore two white gloves, each with a little blue bow around the wrist and of course Nana also added the fake-breasts. Doflamingo was actually surprised Rocinante didn't even notice they were fake. But then again the blond never really stared at _that_ place of him.

"Why am I dressing as Dorathia again?" he groaned, not really expecting an answer. A prediction that came true as his mother pulled him back onto a chair to apply some make-up. Pink lip gloss. Like seriously, they wouldn't notice if he _didn't_ have it on.

Soon he was pushed inside a carriage together with his parents.

_"__No way. Are we going back to the Harts?"_

~0~

"I guess we are," Doflamingo sighed as he stood in front of the familiar building.

"Dorathia!" Rocinante is walking towards him, waving, only to trip over his own feet.

"Are you okay?!" Doflamingo asked in his deformed voice. Going over, he offered the blond a hand.

"Thanks," the blond sheepishly laughed, getting back onto his feet.

"Glad you could make it for the picnic!"

_"__A picnic huh?"_

"I brought some macarons," Rocinante smiled, looking at him like a dog who had just done something good and expected a pat on the head.

"Really? Nice to hear."

_"__First he then Corazon and then he again? Seriously, what a coincidence."_

Looking around, Doflamingo went closer to Rocinante, noticing the other one blushing.

_"__A shy one huh?"_

"Nee, Rocinante… What do you think about marrying me?"

Rocinante stared at Doflamingo for what felt like an eternity. It wasn't like Doflamingo _wanted_ to marry him, oh no… He wanted to know Rocinante's opinion. If he was also against it, they could work together. If he agreed with it, well let's just say he should expect a lot more of high heels into his legs.

"I'm sorry Dorathia," Rocinante said, voice surprisingly soft and warm. He looked to the floor, blush spreading across whole his face.

"There's already someone I'm in love with."

"…?"

"A kind of mysterious person. There's more than what's known to the person and I want to find out. So… I can't marry you."

_"__He already likes someone? Well I guess it's okay, I don't want to marry him and he doesn't want to marry me. All we have to do is make this clear to our parents."_

"Whoever she is, she's probably happy about having you."

_"__I wonder about that,"_ Rocinante inwardly sighed: _"But since Dorathia doesn't take it bad, it's alright."_

"I guess we'll have to talk about this whole marriage deal," Doflamingo sighed. Rocinante looked up: "But I'd love to stay friends with you!"

_"__Really an over-romantic one."_

"I don't mind, but before we can think of that, we have to get the marriage-idea out of their heads."

"Well… For my parents, that won't be difficult," Rocinante shrugged: "They were never going to force me. To be honest, it were your parents, probably, that came up with the idea."

"I figured," Doflamingo groaned.

"It'll be fine right? I bet they'll accept it!"

~0~

Too bad they didn't. Well, Doflamingo had expected it.

"But… Rocinante," Nana said with fake-politeness: "Why not?"

"Well…" Rocinante scratched the back of his hair. Doflamingo, who was sitting next to the guy, noticed he was nervous.

"I already love someone."

Hiroko looked at her son in disbelief: "You never said."

"I was going to!" Rocinante stuttered.

"Then, who is it?" Hooming asked.

"Well…"

"Is she nicer than Dorathia? Because that wouldn't surprise me," Ryuujirou added. Doflamingo rolled his eyes.

"NO! I mean, Dorathia's nice too."

"Then why?" Nana whined.

"You never said anything about meeting a girl," Hooming insisted. Hiroko noticed her son was at his breaking point and tried to stop the others but it was too late.

"Why not? Is the girl prettier than-?"

"IT'S NOT A GIRL! IT'S A GUY NAMED DOFLAMINGO!" Rocinante yelled out before he covered his blood red face with his hands.

Everyone stared.

"D-Dofla-Doflamingo?" Doflamingo stuttered, wide-eyed staring at Rocinante.

"A… A guy?" Nana, Ryuujirou and Hooming let out in unison. Hiroko was the only one who kept quiet. In fact, she stood up from her place next to Hooming and went over to her son. She pulled him against her and rubbed him on the back.

"The picnic is over," Hooming said, rubbing his temples: "Nana, Ryuujirou, would you mind speaking me when we're back?"

The two adults nodded.

"Dorathia… I'm sorry…" Rocinante said with teary eyes, stretching his hand out, trying to grab Doflamingo's. Doflamingo, however, slapped it away in utter disbelief.

_"__He… He… He LOVES ME?!"_

End of Chapter Eight


	9. Everything goes wrong

It was silent. Doflamingo, Hiroko and Rocinante were sitting in the living room. Rocinante next to his mother, head onto her shoulder. Hiroko was stroking his hair with care, making soothing sounds. Doflamingo found it rather difficult to watch it. The pain of not having had a mother who ever had done _that_ to him was making it unbearable. But the fact Rocinante loved him was pushing that pain to the back of his head. Rocinante loved him? No wait, Rocinante _knew_ him? The _real_ him? Did he know _he_ was Doflamingo?! Like… How was that possible? No one knew his real name without him knowing them! Wait! The image of Corazon appeared before his eyes. Wait a moment! Corazon knew! Corazon knew his real name was Doflamingo! And wait! Both Corazon and Rocinante probably _knew_… Trafalgar Law. It started to make sense to Doflamingo in a way. For some reason, there must be a relation between Corazon and Rocinante. And that Law guy also had something to do with it.

"Hiroko-_san_?"

"Yes Dorathia?"

"Could I use the bathroom for a second?"

"Of course!"

"Okay," standing up, Doflamingo balanced himself on his high heels as he made his way to the hall, not catching Rocinante's eyes which were full of pain.

"She must hate me," Rocinante sighed: "You must hate me."

"My dear, dear, Rocinante… Why would I hate you?"

"Because… I'm in love… With a guy."

"Rocinante," Hiroko sighed: "We're Buddhists, but we aren't monks. And we also don't pursue skill in meditation, nor aim for enlightenment. Did you really forget that?"+

"No."

"Now dry your tears, dear. I'm sure your father is talking to Ryuujirou and Nana."

~0~

"We are Christians!" Nana and Ryuujirou yelled out.-

"Homosexuals are people mislead by the Devil!"

Hooming tried to interrupt but Nana kept on ranting: "How dare you raise your son like that?! HOW DARE YOUR SON FALL IN LOVE WITH OUR USELESS SON?!"

"Wait a moment!" Hooming interjected: "Your son?!"

Nana became pale. Before she could defend herself, Hooming ranted: "What does that mean? If I remember correctly you only had a daughter? And now my son says he's in love with a guy, you claim to have a son? Would you mind explaining that to me? Also, how dare you criticize the way Hiroko and I raise our son? I dare you to utter one _other_ insult before I throw you out of my house!"

"Hooming," Ryuujirou coldly replied: "What if word about your son would spill? With my contacts, that wouldn't be so hard to do."

~0~

When Hooming entered the living room, Hiroko could immediately sense something was wrong.

"…?"

"I have good news for you, Rocinante," Hooming said, hoping his voice didn't waver. Rocinante looked up.

"You're gonna get married tomorrow."

"I REFUSE!" he yelled, startling everyone in the room: "I told you! I'm in love with Doflamingo."

Ryuujirou, who was annoyed about the fact Rocinante _knew_ his son, lost his patient.

"SHUT UP YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE PIECE OF ***! All of you are so ungrateful! You should be happy you are even _allowed_ to marry _our daughter_! Now if you guys don't marry our daughter, some nasty things could happen to you! Homosexuals are misled by the Devils and only with your deaths God will forgive you!"

"You monster!" Hiroko snapped, fully understanding _what_ Ryuujirou was implying.

"Don't worry!" Nana cooed: "After the marriage, we won't have to see each other again!"

_"__We'll just steal all your fortunes during the ceremony and the night that follows and disappear,"_ the Donquixote's thought in unison.

"You're the worst!" Hiroko yelled out with tears in her eyes.

"Perhaps."

"Hooming-_sama_!" Monet appeared, panting.

"What is wrong Monet?"

"Do-Dora… Dorathia-_sama_ stole a horse and vanished!"

~0~

"How do girls ride horses?!" Doflamingo cried out in frustration as he tried to keep his dress down. The horse itself, happy to be free, refused to slow down. Honestly, if the situation hadn't been so complicated, Doflamingo would've laughed. But now he would laugh. From frustration!

"I need to contact Trébol!" Doflamingo groaned: "Trébol, Diamante or Vergo. Or…"

Pica!

"Yes Pica! He's the best when it comes to tracking down people."

The ride on the horse took four hours and Doflamingo was _glad_ to stand on his own feet. Screw that, he could dance from happiness. But now was not the time. Fully aware he was dressed as a female, he entered his normal bar, going straight to Bluenote.

"What can I do for you?"

"Has a guy named Law been here?"

Bluenote shook his head. Placing his necklace with his gang-symbol on the counter (a smiley-face with a cancel sign going through the left eye), he stared right into Bluenote's eyes.

"Well?"

"He's in the back for the moment. Together with CC."

Doflamingo's eyes widened and he took a few steps back.

"You let CC inside? Even though you know his relationship to Doflamingo?"

"He did. Shurororororo!" a voice said from behind and Doflamingo almost suffered a major heart-attack. Standing in front of him was CC. Also known as Caesar Clown, a mad scientist and a science professor at University. And Doflamingo's _king_. The man who was obsessed with him and had ruined his life. Next to him was Trafalgar Law, cold expression on his face. The people in the bar itself started to leave, some faster than others, _sensing_ something was wrong. They weren't as stupid as to stay just to find out how wrong things were.

Doflamingo ignored the fear inside and spoke.

"You know Corazon right?"

Law grinned: "Now what if I did?"

"Do you want something to happen to Rocinante?"

Law's eyes widened as his grin faded away in the blink of an eye.

"I know everything about him! I even know a little dirty secret which is enough to ruin him completely! I even know where he lives."

While Doflamingo was speaking, Law became paler and paler.

"So, would you mind coming with me for a second?!" Doflamingo almost shouted, remembering the last second he had to sound like a female. Law pushed the hat forward, so it covered his eyes, subtle nodding.

"Wait a moment," Caesar interrupted, ice-cold eyes burning on Doflamingo: "You know Doflamingo don't you?"

Snatching the necklace away from the counter, Caesar let out his trade-mark laugh: "If I remember this is Doflamingo's necklace! Am I wrong to assume you're a rather important member of the Card-gang?"

Doflamingo gritted his teeth: "I don't know what you're talking about."

Pulling Law by his arm, he left, hearing Caesar's laughter echoing through whole the bar.

Once outside, Law managed to break free: "Alright what do you want?!"

"I want you to arrange a meet-up for me with Corazon!"

Law snorted: "That won't be easy."

"Yeah, I guess it's easier to spill Rocinante's secret."

"How?!" Law almost yelled.

"What?"

"How did you find out Rocinante's secret?!"

"Pretty easy. I was there when he revealed it."

Law's eyes widened: "There's now you were there! I made sure no one was around when he revealed it to me!"

_"__So Rocinante had told Law he was in love with me?"_

"Wait a moment!" Law suddenly said: "If I remember Cora-san told me about a girl inside his house!"

"Wait… Corazon did?!"

Law's eyes widened. He had slipped up. And he knew it.

"Corazon lives with Rocinante?"

"No! Rocinante temporally offered Corazon shelter."

"So I might find Corazon around Rocinante's house then?!" Doflamingo barked. Law shook his head: "I told Cora-_san_ it was too dangerous. Please don't involve Rocinante in this!"

"I won't involve him if I can speak with Corazon!" Doflamingo groaned in frustration.

"Okay," Law replied: "I can't promise anything, though. Cora-_san_'s rather busy for the moment."

"I got a better idea," Doflamingo grinned: "Tell your dear Cora-_san_ Joker will be waiting in the bar, tomorrow at ten 'o clock in the evening."

"Joker?" Law asked, disbelief clearly visible on his face.

"Yes. And if he doesn't hurry, Rocinante's secret will be spilled."

"You're a monster?!" Law spat out in disgust.

"I'm more than that," Doflamingo grinned. Law hissed before he turned around and left.

Now the youngster was gone, realization hit Doflamingo. Bluenote! Bluenote had let Caesar enter the bar, even though he had been with the people who had searched for him while Caesar had locked him up in his golden birdcage! How could he?! Bluenote had been like an older brother to him! He didn't want to go inside. However, a part of him told him to do so.

_"__Caesar doesn't know it's me. Caesar doesn't know it's me."_

Repeating those words as a mantra inside of his head, Doflamingo took a deep breath and went back inside. The man named Caesar was lying on the ground, in a pool of his blood.

"Doflamingo," Bluenote sighed: "Did you really think I'd let him enter without a _damn good_ reason?"

"You know it's me?" Doflamingo asked, not bothering to deform his voice.

"How can I _not_ remember the boy who grew up inside of my bar?" Bluenote smiled: "I still have a spare-suit around. Let me get it."

"Did you…"

"He won't bother you, Doflamingo. Not anymore."

"What if the police finds out?"

"You're safe, Doflamingo. You're safe."

Realization hit Doflamingo: "Bluenote, you…"

"The police is already on their way. I used the phone to contact them."

"Why?" Doflamingo stuttered, tears falling down.

"My gang, CP9, was already tracked down. It was only a matter of days before they found me."

"Bluenote!"

"You and I aren't saints, Doflamingo. But I don't want you to dirty your clean hands."

"But…"

"I would've been arrested soon enough anyway. I'm an assassin. Consider this an early present for your birthday, Doflamingo."

"You can't leave me…"

"You can stand on your own legs now," Bluenote smiled.

_"__And I know a person that will take care of you. Because he promised me."_

"Now put on the suit and leave."

"…"

"Doflamingo?"

"…"

"There's someone that will take care of you."

"…"

"You already found him."

"Who?"

"The one that will heal your wings."

+For these Buddhists, enjoying sensual pleasures in a non-harmful way is normative, regardless of orientation. Most monks are also not allowed to have any sexual contact with others, regardless of sex and gender.

-Nana and Ryuujirou will be portrayed as people who _hate_ homosexuality, but in this story, I based it on their worries about image, rather than hate, because Nana and Ryuujirou don't give a *** about others their orientation. However, keep in mind, not every Christian hates homosexual people.


	10. You have to finish

**A/N: Full title: What you start, you have to finish.**

**(Chapter six reference)**

The atmosphere in the Hart-mansion was rather tense. Doflamingo had been gone for four hours now and Ryuujirou doubted he would return.

"What are you going to do now?" Hooming spat out: "If your daughter isn't here by tomorrow, you can cancel the priest that's coming."

"Shut up! Like we don't know that!" Nana snapped in annoyance. Hiroko silently glared at them while Rocinante was chewing on his thumb. The whole situation was his fault, in a kind of way. Suddenly, the old phone on the glass-table next to the couch rang.

"Hello?" Rocinante picked it up, carefully observed by Ryuujirou and Nana.

"Rocinante-_san_, we have a problem!" Law panicked.

"What's wrong?"

"Joker! He wants to meet you tomorrow evening at ten 'o clock."

_"__Sounds so familiar._ Wait, tomorrow evening?"

The others in the room stared at the blond.

"I got it."

"Hey, Rocinante-_san_!"

"Yes?"

"Remember that woman you knocked over close to your house a few days ago?"

"Yes I remember," Rocinante sighed. _"I knocked Dorathia over, off all people."_

"She's the one who approached me."

"Wait… You mean… The same woman…?"

"Yes."

"I… Got it… Thank you Law."

"Okay. Rocinante-_san_?"

"Yes?"

"Don't do anything stupid."

_"__I think I already did."_

The call was closed.

"Rocinante?" Hiroko asked, but the blond didn't hear it.

_"__Dorathia and Doflamingo know each other? Then, perhaps, did she leave to warn Doflamingo? If so, does Doflamingo know? Is this why he wants to meet? Oh God, what do I do, what do I do? There's no way I can face him!"_

"Rocinante?"

"Tomorrow evening, I need to leave," he stated.

"Who knows what you're planning to do," Ryuujirou rolled his eyes.

"I might be able to bring Dorathia with me."

By hearing this, Nana jumped up: "You know where she is?"

"Yes. Well, at least I have a clue."

Ryuujirou thought for a second.

"Fine, we'll place the wedding the day after tomorrow. But you better don't play a game on us."

"I won't. I promise."

_"__Why do these people want me to marry their daughter so hard? Something's not right over here."_

~0~

Doflamingo sighed as he saw the sun setting. Honestly, he had nowhere to go. With pain in the heart, he had watched Bluenote being taken away. Caesar's body had also been taken and now a board with "closed" was hanging at the bar-door. Both Trébol and Pica hadn't showed up and Vergo was probably busy. Diamante was still inside the Donquixote-mansion, but going back was the last thing Doflamingo wanted to do. So there he sat, on a bench in a street, watching the sun disappear. He sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing his left eye.

"Stupid parents, stupid Rocinante, stupid left eye!"

The last part was bothering Doflamingo so hard.

"I swear to God, I'll fucking gouge this eye out!"

"Aren't you frustrated?" a voice said, sounding rather teasing than mocking. Standing there was Crocodile.

"Gator-man!" Doflamingo said, feeling better. Crocodile sighed and sat down.

"Well?"

"Hm?"

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Heh," Crocodile grinned: "Honestly… You're such a bad liar.

"I'm not lying!"

"Doflamingo," Crocodile sighed: "You never rub your left eye unless you're frustrated."

"C-Can I tell you something?"

"Heh," Crocodile sighed as he took a cigar out of his pocket. Doflamingo watched him light it.

"Of course you can."

"You see… My parents… Recently, they're short on money."

"Oh really now? Am I wrong to assume you figured that out on your own?"

"Of course I did, there's no way they would've told me! But in order to get a huge amount of money there was a simple solution. I needed to marry someone. So they changed me in Dorathia-"

"They turned you into a girl?" Crocodile mockingly asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yes," Doflamingo snapped. He was in no mood to play games or laugh about things right now. Noticing this, Crocodile gave him a nod to continue.

"So I dressed up as a girl and met the heir of a family. Now coincidence or not, for some reason, that guy knows the right-hand of a gang-leader who's also active in this part of town."

"Yeah?"

"And then today, this guy just randomly exclaims 'I'm in love with Doflamingo!'"

"So he knows you were cross-dressing?"

"No I don't think he does. But I slept with a gang-leader one night, same leader as the guy I told you about earlier."

"The one who knows the heir?"

"Yes. And I told him my real name."

"You screwed up."

"I didn't!" Doflamingo yelled, offended: "Lady Fate just hates me!"

"You shouldn't have slept with that gang-leader. Surely you're not as stupid as to forget what happens when you do that? You should be happy Kaidou was so forgiving because you were still a rookie."

An image of a muscular man bending over him, lips closing in and hands reaching _those _places, flashed before Doflamingo's mind and he shook his head, trying to forget it.

"Honestly, with a history as yours, it surprises me you even _dare_ to sleep with others."

"I got it," Doflamingo snapped, annoyed he had forgotten what Crocodile thought about sex. Or love for the matter. Both were useless and should be avoided.

"Love and sex is useless."

"In my case it is."

"…? What do you mean?"

"Doflamingo," Crocodile smirked: "You really thought in all those years we spend together, I wouldn't have noticed you suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder? Whatever happened to you, you still suffer from it. Adding abusive parents to that doesn't help either. Maybe finding someone that doesn't see loving you as a task is exactly what you need."

Noticing just how out of character Crocodile was, he shut his mouth: "What do you mean?"

"That playing-around-attitude of yours? The sleeping with everyone that shows interest to you? I honestly think you're subconsciously trying to find some love. Or at least someone that will _hold_ you and comfort you whenever you need it. It's a basic instinct inside of you that always gets you in trouble. So settling down might be the best for someone like you."

"You mean marrying that heir?"

"No, dumbass," Crocodile almost rolled his eyes. Inhaling his cigar, he closed his eyes: "What about that gang-leader?"

"That's… He's just a toy! And now I just need to know his relation to Roci-, I mean that heir!"

"Hm. Diamante, Trébol, Vergo, Pica, Baby 5, Dellinger, Kaidou, Caesar, Senor Pink, Jola, Buffalo, Gladius, Sugar, Lao G, Machvise, Bluenote, CP9 and I."

"…?"

"Doflamingo. The only _fucking_ persons that know your real name are your gang, Caesar and Kaidou because of a reason we don't talk about, Bluenote and CP9 because they practically raised you and I. You never tell 'outsiders' your real name. So please tell me why you'd throw around your real name in the presence of a gang-leader?"

"A slip of tongue."

"And surely you weren't able to cover it up."

"…"

"Hm?"

"Alright, I don't know. For some reason, it just _felt_ right to tell him. He didn't feel like threatening and he was kind of shy so… I guess it was okay."

"Maybe Lady Fate hasn't abandoned you then."

"Eh?"

"Doflamingo, if you dare to mention this conversation in the future, I'll kill you. Got it?"

"Yeah…"

"I don't believe in fate, or all that crap, but in your case, I'll believe anything. When I first met you in the streets, I declared you dead in three days, didn't I?"

"Yes you did. Rude fellow you were."

"Heh," Crocodile grinned, smile matching his scar across his face: "But look, here you are. You made it on your own and solved _almost_ all your problems yourself. So it wouldn't surprise me if you were able to recognize the people that are… Kind to you on first sight. Without problems you made your own gang from scratch and up until this day, no one has betrayed you, meaning you have an eye for chosing the right persons. So who knows you might've chosen the right person to tell your real name to."

"You mean that gang-leader."

Crocodile shrugged: "But whatever the relation between that heir and gang-leader, you have to solve your problems. And Doflamingo."

"… Yeah?"

"Do me a favour and stop playing, okay? _Fucking _talk like an adult and think twice about every decision."

"I got it," Doflamingo smiled, placing his sunglasses back onto his face.

"Crocodile."

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"Heh. Now am I wrong to think you need a place to sleep tonight?"

End of Chapter Ten


	11. The Truth

**A/N: I personally think this story is a bit rushed, but it all started as a headcanon of mine. I never expected to cross the 1,000 words either.**

When Doflamingo woke up, he found himself in Crocodile's bed. The man himself was sitting on the edge of the bed, reading the newspaper and smoking yet another cigar.

"Morning," Doflamingo sighed. Crocodile raised his eyebrow, grin still lingering around his face. But he was smart enough not to annoy the blond. Instead, he nodded and kept on reading. Doflamingo blinked a few times before he jumped up.

"Sunglasses!"

"I took them off," Crocodile replied, not bothering to look up: "Honestly, sleeping with sunglasses on is the dumbest thing I've ever see you do. Birdbrain."

Doflamingo wanted to reply to the insult, but seeing his sunglasses on the nightstand, he placed them on his nose, sighing in relief when his world turned purple again. Crocodile rolled his eyes before he folded the newspaper.

"Ready to get breakfast?"

Doflamingo thankfully nodded. They left the bedroom and went straight to Crocodile's kitchen, where they each grabbed random things and placed them onto the table.

"You haven't changed in all these years," Doflamingo grinned. He remembered the days where he left his house and went over to Crocodile. First to meet the man, but after a few years, he went to get information. And in all those years, breakfast had always been like this.

"Did you honestly expect me to change?" Crocodile shot back.

"Nah, I like you the way you are."

"Doflamingo," Crocodile said in a warning tone.

"Yeah, I got it, I got it. No screwing around anymore. But honestly, what am I supposed to say?"

"You're the one who asked to meet up," Crocodile mercilessly replied: "And you're a master-manipulator. Now stop acting like a chicken, Birdbrain!"

"Birds are really popular with you."

"Always. But I hate the noisy, whiny ones."

Doflamingo let out a laugh: "Oh really now?"

He sighed and sat down.

"You really are different today. I haven't seen you like this before."

Doflamingo let out another sigh: "I really feel miserable. Like… Normally I know what's going on, but the situation became so complicated with my double identity and stuff…"

"No point in complaining. Eat something."

"…"

"You know, I like this side more of you. The side that doesn't make you look like a narcissistic guy with a lot of problems."

"Why thank you," Doflamingo weakly smiled, but he did start chewing on some bread.

"I've been thinking, what if that heir and the gang-leader are the same persons?"

"No," Doflamingo shook his head: "I already thought about it, but honestly? The chances of that are very, very, very low. They have different eyes, one is mute and the other not and… I dunno… The gang-leader appeared to be more confident underneath his shyness, while the heir is just clumsy and shy. And screws up. A lot of times."

"I see," Crocodile replied: "It would've made the situation better."

"Or worse."

"Perhaps."

They ate in silence, occasionally glancing at each other. After finishing breakfast, Crocodile stood up: "When are you meeting this guy again?"

"Ten 'o clock this evening."

"Look, I need to go to work. Miss All-Sunday is probably already present. Think you can survive?"

"Who's Miss All-Sunday?" Doflamingo grinned.

"One of my employees," Crocodile dryly replied: "I take that as a yes."

Putting on his huge black coat, Crocodile left the house. Doflamingo stared through the window until he was out of sight.

"So… What do I do now?" he thought out loud. Contacting Diamante came with too much risks. Risks he wasn't willing to take right now. Trébol and Pica were off to do whatever the hell they pleased and Vergo was still on his job. Probably.

"I should definitely take a bath. Hm, I hope the Gator doesn't mind."

~0~

After finishing his bath, Doflamingo ate lunch and ended up on the couch… Staring in front of him. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.

**_"_****_Now we can't have this," a deep voice growled in annoyance._**

**_"_****_We can dispose of him right away boss!" a man's voice replied. Doflamingo looked up. His head hurt for some reason. There were two men holding his arms. He was sitting on his knees in front of a seat. He hesitantly looked up, but he couldn't make out a figure._**

**_"_****_Where did you find him?"_**

**_"_****_Sneaking around in one of our hideouts," the other man replied._**

**_"_****_Well, it would be a waste. Boy, what's your name?"_**

**_"_****_D-Doflamingo," Doflamingo noticed his voice was shaking._**

**_"_****_How old are you?"_**

**_"_****_F-Five…"_**

**_"_****_Now what's a young boy like you doing around one of my hideouts?"_**

**_"…"_**

**_"_****_The boss asked you something!" the first man growled, kicking him into his back. Doflamingo yelped as the pain shot through whole his body._**

**_"_****_Would you stop that?!" the man, apparently the boss, growled: "Bring him to the room in the back. I'll 'interrogate' him."_**

**_"_****_Yes boss!" the two men pulled Doflamingo onto his feet, going to a door he previously hadn't seen._**

Doflamingo jolted awake and stared around for a few minutes, glad to notice he was still in Crocodile's house. Curling up to a ball, he sniffed.

"Stupid memories."

If there was a way to get rid of memories, Doflamingo would immediately try it. His head was full of things he didn't want to know… Didn't want to remember. They had made him, but at the same time, they were slowly breaking him. He stood up, knowing sleep was the last thing he now wanted.

"I hate my life."

~0~

Ten 'o clock. Doflamingo was dressed in a black suit. A pink tie around his neck and his pink feathered coat on his shoulders. He was on his way to Bluenote's bar. He was shivering, but the blond made sure to tell himself it was because of the temperature. Turning around the corner… Standing there was Corazon, smoking.

"Didn't think you would make it," Doflamingo fake-grinned as he went over to the other blond. Said one threw his cigarette away and turned around. So they stood, staring at each other behind sunglasses (Corazon's black ones and Doflamingo's purple ones). A note was shown.

_How do you know about Rocinante and who is Dorathia?_

"How do you know about Dorathia and why does Rocinante know me?" Doflamingo shot back. Both expecting an answer, they kept silent, hoping the other would speak first. After five minutes, Doflamingo couldn't stand it. Corazon was definitely more patient. Thinking back to Crocodile's words, Doflamingo took a deep breath…

"I am Dorathia and Dorathia is me."

End of Chapter Eleven


	12. Marry me!

Rocinante could only stare. Doflamingo was Dorathia?

"H-How?" he stuttered. At this, the other blond was taken back.

"You speak?" Doflamingo asked: "No wait… You sound like Rocinante!"

"I am Rocinante."

"That's not possible! Rocinante's clumsier than you! Not to mention the eye-color-"

"Colored contacts," Rocinante replied, taking of his sunglasses and hoodie before removing them, revealing his navy blue eyes. The two stared at each other.

"So all this time…"

"That's my line."

Another moment of silence.

"I can't believe it," Rocinante finally sighed: "Dorathia and you… You're like two different persons."

"How do you know?" Doflamingo shot back: "You barely know me. But I admit, I'm a great actor. But so are you."

"I never intended to play, actually…" Rocinante replied in defence: "To me, Dorathia and you were truly two different persons. And I never wanted to marry Dorathia…"

"It's kinda getting complicated over here," Doflamingo sighed: "But you and Corazon were also two worlds apart for me. You're not angry?"

"Why would I? I technically did the same thing right?"

"…"

They stared at each other for yet another five minutes. The cold wind blowing brought them back to the presence.

"So now what?" Rocinante asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You dislike the Rocinante-part of me, I don't really love your Dorathia-part."

"It's not like I dislike your Rocinante-part, to call it that, I just wasn't interested in marrying you."

"Right," Rocinante frowned: "We have a problem, Dora-, Doflamingo."

"…?"

"The marriage."

"Aha?"

"We need to get married."

"… I am five seconds away from beating the crap out of you."

"I love you."

"Ahem?"

"I love you. I've loved you ever since I saw you in town, all those months ago. And I love you, especially after that night we spent together. I don't know you, but I want to know you. Even though I didn't reveal myself, everything I've done and said, as both Corazon and Rocinante, were honest!"

"We're two guys!" Doflamingo yelled back.

"You didn't mind letting me fuck you."

"First of all, I let you fuck me," Doflamingo growled, a small blush forming on his cheeks: "Second off all, sex and marriage, or love for the matter, are two different things!"

"Perhaps. But I only slept with you because you interested me."

"And there's the problem!" finger pointing accusingly at Rocinante, Doflamingo continued: "I literally asked you to _play_ with me. I never took any of that shit serious!"

Rocinante raised his voice: "So this was all a game to you? So you were just playing with me? I knew something was fishy, but I never expected you to really think about that, or me, like _that_!"

"What the hell did you think then?" a vein started throbbing on his forehead: "I love you so I sleep with you? Goddamnit Cora-, Rocinante! I was bored and honestly could use some… distraction! It's not like I was planning to start a relationship with you after that! Or marry you! If that was true, I'd have a lot of divorces clinging onto me right now."

Rocinante let his gaze fall upon the floor. Of course he knew. There had been no way for Doflamingo to see him like anything except toy. You don't bring persons you're serious about to your 'play-room', right?

"I see, so that's how it is…"

Doflamingo didn't like it. Hearing Rocinante's voice like _that_ made his head spin and his heart bleed.

"I guess that's normal…"

"No wait," the blond interrupted: "I didn't mean it like that… It's just… We don't know each other."

"But we can get to know each other!" there it was again. Rocinante's puppy-look.

"You look… innocent," Doflamingo just spilled.

"Eh?"

"N-Never mind."

"Doflamingo… I want to know who you are! I want to get to know you! I want to spend time with you. I want to see you smile. And honestly… I never want to see you again… Not like _that_. I want to protect you from your inner demons!"

"That's quiet some serious stuff you're sprouting," Doflamingo half-grinned.

"I mean it. I don't know why, Doflamingo… But for some reason… A part of me can't even stand the _thought_ of you getting hurt. I want to hold you. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

Doflamingo stared at Rocinante: "You're really innocent."

"Does that bother you?"

"N-No…" Doflamingo shook his head. The cold was getting annoying. He sighed as he rubbed his arms.

"You're cold."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yes I am."

It wasn't really sarcasm, it was just a dry reply. A try to keep the conversation going. Honestly, Doflamingo was getting tired. The cold was making him annoyed, Rocinante kept on going on about loving him and even though he refused to even think about it, a part of him pushed him to saying 'yes'. The thought of someone holding him, defending him, even from his own demons was rather appealing. There had only been a few who had made the promise of protecting him. Those few had turned out to be his closest friends. And the moment Rocinante had comforted him had been… Nice… To say the least.

"Even if I'd want to," he continued in a softer voice: "It's not possible."

"Doflamingo… You dressed up as a girl and wore high heels even though you could break your neck… Have you ever thought before it would be possible?"

Doflamingo snorted.

"And besides… Officially, I'll be marrying Dorathia. And in the shadows, the one I married is Doflamingo. Donquixote Doflamingo."

"Heh."

"I really like your name, it has a certain… Charm."

"First time someone compliments me on my fucking name. But I'll take the compliment."

Rocinante smiled and kneeled.

"I don't have a ring, so I'll improvise."

He took his hoodie in his left hand and hesitantly Doflamingo's one in his right.

"Donquixote Dorathia Doflamingo…"

"…"

"Do you want to marry me, Hart Corazon Rocinante?"

"…"

Looking into those eyes, Doflamingo couldn't describe what he felt. Something he wouldn't be able to explain for the rest of his life. But looking into those sweet navy eyes, the eyes of a truly kind person with something adventurous hidden inside, he sighed.

"Yes."

Rocinante stood up and placed a soft kiss onto Doflamingo's lips. From the way he acted, Doflamingo could tell he was still afraid he would slip out of his hands. Suddenly something was placed onto his head. It was Rocinante's hoodie.

"I'm so glad you said yes. I promise to keep every promise I made right here."

"You better do," Doflamingo grinned, able to joke again. Rocinante pulled Doflamingo into his chest, arms wrapping around him, rubbing his back.

"You're still cold."

"I'll always be cold."

"Not with a walking heater like me around."

"Heh."

The hug felt warm, a kind of warmness Doflamingo didn't recognize. Even the pats onto his head from Bluenote, the ones onto his shoulder from CP9 or Crocodile's rare embraces paled in comparison with this kind of warmth. It was a kind of warmth… A child would get from his parents perhaps? A kind of warmth Doflamingo needed. So he let Rocinante hug him.

"Let's go to the hotel," Rocinante said, pulling away.

"Hotel?"

"Honestly… I'm not going back to the other side of the town in the almost middle of the night."

A sly grin appeared onto Doflamingo's face.

"Oh no pretty boy… Don't think you're able to sneak out. Since you're marrying me, it's only fitting you meet some… Special persons to me. I'll show you around."

Rocinante whined.

"Not a party or night-type?"

"I told you didn't I," Rocinante almost pouted: "I'm the over-romantic type."

"Too bad for you I'm the outgoing, playful type."

"That last part I already know…" the blond grumbled.

"Don't worry… There's lots of other stuff for you to know."

"Then Doflamingo, do you trust me enough to tell me another secret?"

"Oh really now?" Doflamingo grinned.

"W-What's up… With, you know… Your left eye?"

The grin faded.

End of Chapter Twelve


	13. Memories & Meetings

**A/N: A little small update. Holidays are closing in and damn, it's pretty hectic. I'm planning on releasing a double-update on Christmas and New Years day for you guys :3 so the story is reaching its end. To those who read, favorited, followed, reviewed, thank you so much! I'm glad to see others enjoy this story as well.**

"My left eye hm?" Doflamingo fake-grinned: "N-Nothing actually."

"Then… Is it okay if I remove your sunglasses?" at this, Doflamingo jumped up and took a few steps back.

"I'd rather not have you do that."

"…?"

"No!" Doflamingo growled.

"But you said-"

"I know what I said," Doflamingo snapped. Noticing Doflamingo's change in behaviour, Rocinante continued.

"But I just want to know!"

"You don't have to!"

"If I marry you and we sleep together, you'll have to take them off anyways."

Doflamingo stuttered a few seconds before he barked: "Like hell!"

"Want to bet?"

"N-No, thank you," Doflamingo sighed. He liked to play around and play games, but bets were not his strongest point.

"Fine," Rocinante sighed, calming Doflamingo down.

Before he snatched the sunglasses off in one swift movement.

"…?!"

-Flashback-

It had been a rainy day. Normally, those days turned Doflamingo into a depressed boy of six. But not today. Oh, no, today was special. His family from the streets had organized a party! He knew it because, Lao G, the oldest man of the family, had spilled the secret. So there he was, waiting.

_"__This isn't right,"_ he eventually thought: _"I might as well go take a look to Trébol!"_

Trébol was Doflamingo's mentor. The one who had explained him everything about surviving out there. So the boy slipped out of the mansion alone (sine Diamante was gone for an _unknown_ reason) and went to one of Trébol's hideouts: an old, cracking, rotten house.

"Tréééboool!" he yelled as he entered the house, going upstairs.

"Aah, Doffy… Come right in!" Trébol replied as he opened the door to his… Bedroom?

"Why are you still sleeping?" Doflamingo laughed as he went inside: "It's already past noo-"

And froze.

Sitting on Trébol's bed was an unknown man. He had long, blue-ish silver hair. On his nose were purple-rimmed, star-shaped black sunglasses. On top of his head was a yellow hat, adorned at the bottom with flowers.

"I'll leave you two alone then, behe~," Trébol locked the door.

"Wait… What?" Doflamingo started panicking.

"Don't worry boy," the man on the bed said.

"Just shut up, creepy old dude!" Doflamingo spat out, slamming his fists onto the door.

"Oi! Trébol!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What?!" he spat out. The man just smiled at him… Before it turned into a scowl.

"That's not how you'll address me!" he shouted as he kicked Doflamingo against the wall.

"….!" feeling nauseous, Doflamingo tried to stand up, only to have a foot planted onto his back.

"Now listen you little shit. I paid for this… So I won't let you ruin it… Got it?"

"W-What?" Doflamingo stammered.

"The name's Disco… But that's master for you."

-End of Flashback-

"I'm sorry," the warm voice brought Doflamingo back to the presence. Rocinante was looking at him like a puppy that had just been abandoned by its owner.

"I shouldn't have forced you. Sorry…" the last part was a whisper. Feeling his sunglasses in his hands, Doflamingo placed them back onto his nose.

"Well… You're not the one who did this…"

"But… What happened? It's not a disease, or just from a fall."

"No it isn't," Doflamingo bitterly grinned: "You see… I'm a bit of a sadist and masochist myself."

"…?"

"But I always consider my… Partner's health."

"…?"

"Not every sadist does. And when I see this ugly left eye of mine. I remember there are lots of other nasty people out there."

Doflamingo didn't need a mirror in order to know how his eye looked. Eye white turned red… Veins clearly visible… Eye that was tolling around.

"My parents refused to treat me. Thought I had done something stupid again."

He snorted.

"So it'll never be able to heal again."

For a moment, the only thing audible was the wind blowing.

"You're still beautiful…" Rocinante finally said.

"Why thank you…" Doflamingo grinned: "Now let me show you my family!"

~0~

First they went to a pub, owned by Jora and Lao G. Lao G, as the man he was, challenged Rocinante. It would've been a draw, if not for Rocinante tripping over his feet and face-planting onto the floor. So Vergo, who was also present, offered the man a drink, talking with him. And scaring Rocinante with the bread still stuck onto his left cheek, something Jora pointed out.

Next up was Diamante, who didn't mind they invaded his house in the middle of the night, before they went to the CP9 bar… Lucci gave Rocinante an approving pat onto the shoulder, before Kaku wanted to speak him. When Doflamingo, who was talking to Kalifa, saw his fiancé back, he was pale white. After this, they went to Gladius… One of the younger members. He was silent and wanted to hear _everything_ about Rocinante. Even his blood type.

"I don't see why that matters."

"But I do."

"…"

"… So… Which one is it?"

Luckily Doflamingo sensed his uncomfortableness and pulled him away.

Baby 5, a girl of only 12, was very interested. Doflamingo was kind of surprised, before she revealed she had a boyfriend as well. Doflamingo contacted Pica to look into the matter, which caused Baby 5 to launch herself at Doflamingo, trying to strangle him. When Rocinante intervened, she kicked him into the crotch. Rocinante was half-dead when they left.

"You don't need children anyway," Doflamingo shrugged.

The last ones they went to visit that day were: Pica himself, who immediately got along well with the other blond, Viola, a beautiful dancer from the streets, who warned Rocinante about Doflamingo's bad temper (something the latter could not appreciate), Buffalo, Baby 5's brother who managed to trick Rocinante into giving him money for ice-cream, before Rocinante revealed to have tricked him as well and last but not least, Senor Pink, who made it very clear to Rocinante he was in no position to hurt Doflamingo. It sounded lame to Doflamingo, but with a knife under his chin, it sounded a lot more threatening to Rocinante.

Eventually they arrived at the hotel-room Rocinante had booked.

"Are you okay?" Doflamingo chuckled.

"No I'm not!" Rocinante whined.

"Hey, you did great, handling all _that_."

"Were those all your friends?"

"Well, all of my closest ones. We also have Dellinger, but he's too young to even be able to understand what's going on. Sugar and Machvise are out of town and Gator-man… Well… I'm saving that for a special occasion."

"Oh I see. What about that huge, tall raven who used to hang around you? The one with the snot dripping out of his nose."

"Isn't important…" Doflamingo quickly replied. Rocinante, who was in the bathroom and unable to see Doflamingo's expression, remained quiet.

_"__Trébol's the last person __**you**__ should meet."_

"Doflamingo?"

"Eh?" Doflamingo looked up, only to see a half-naked Rocinante approaching him.

"You want to sleep?"

"Fine," Doflamingo shrugged. And so Rocinante and he lied down.

_Sleep. Let me sleep._

Suddenly warmth embraced him.

"Are you okay? You're shivering."

"I-I'm fine… Now… B-But…" Doflamingo was getting red. If it hadn't been for the fact he wanted to _fucking_ sleep, he'd never ask such thing. But _fuck_ his pride right now! This guy was his _motherfucking_ fiancé, for Christ's sake!

"Can you keep holding me like this?"

"Heh."

"…? W-What?"

"I would've done it even if you hadn't asked. Good night to you."

"Good night."

The arms around him tightened, but it didn't feel threatening, like they were about to squash him. They felt… Protective. Closing him off from the outside-world, bathing him in sweet warmth. Rocinante's heartbeat was once again audible. And once again, it had a calming effect to Doflamingo. He felt a hand playing with his hair and he suppressed a snort. _Really the cuddly, over-romantic type._

He took his sunglasses off and placed them onto the nightstand. Rocinante stared.

To Doflamingo, it was just a reaction caused by the fact he felt sound and safe.

To Rocinante, it was a sign the other blond trusted him.

-End of Chapter Thirteen-


	14. Solving a riddle

**A/N: Sorry for lying, in the end, I couldn't make it with the Holidays :c**

When Doflamingo woke up the next morning, he could hear Rocinante snore. Not loudly, but it still amused him. Out of reflex, he wanted to grab his sunglasses, only to decide not to. Instead, he placed a kiss onto the other blond's cheek, effectively waking him up.

"D-Doflamingo?"

"Who else? Dorathia?"

A weak smile formed upon Rocinante's face before he jumped up.

"Shit! We need to go back to the mansion right now! You're parents are threatening my parents!"

"What?"

"Remember? We _have_ to marry…"

"…?"

"If we don't marry, you're parents are going to contact my parents' business-contacts and tell them their son is possessed by the Devil."

"A pretty handsome devil", Doflamingo teased before he stood up: "Well, I already expected this. After all… The Donquixote-fortune is almost completely gone."

"That explains why you're parents want this so badly," Rocinante mused.

"Yup. But don't worry… I have a _Joker_ in my hands."

"…?"

"Surely," Doflamingo continued: "It would be bad if you're parents lost their image right? And probably you too."

A nod.

"But I think it'd be far worse for my parents if they lost their _lives_."

"…?" Rocinante paled: "W-What?"

"Remember the guy with the square-nose?"

~0~

"And that's the whole story," Doflamingo finished, sipping from his tea. Currently he and Rocinante were sitting onto a couch in the house of no one else than Rob Lucci, head of CP9, an assassin-gang with connections to the government.

"Rather complex," Kalifa commented, placing her glasses a bit higher onto her nose: "But I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what you want."

"You want your parents to leave you alone. About time!" Jabra almost growled: "Those good-for-nothings-"

Kaku made a sign to be quiet.

"Doffy… What do you have in mind?"

"Well… I know you guys don't easily threat people…"

"We got it," Luci said as he stood up, placing his pigeon onto his shoulder.

"Guard the fortune, scare the monsters…"

"Something like that," Doflamingo said before he squeezed Rocinante's hand, noticing how tense the latter was. Kaku must've really spoken to him.

"Anything for you," Luci faintly smiled.

~0~

After the whole plan had been made, Rocinante and Doflamingo called the Hart-mansion before stepping into the carriage. It was simple: during the wedding-ceremony, Luci and the others would guard the safe. If Nana or Ryuujirou tried to steal something, they would be allowed to arrest them. And if they didn't steal anything, Kaku and Kalifa would 'felicitate' them during the party.

"Those guys really like you huh?" Rocinante suddenly said, looking at Doflamingo.

"Just some things from the past. Fufufufu~"

Rocinante sighed: "I wonder… Maybe if you had never dressed up as Dorathia… Maybe… We would've never ended up like each other's fiancés…"

"Honestly… You always think about the cheesiest things at the most wrong times."

"Have you never thought about this before?"

"Destiny or fate-crap?"

"I never uttered those words…" Rocinante slightly mocked.

"Whatever," Doflamingo sighed: "We can't rely on things like that. We need to make our own future now…"

"Aren't you a bit afraid?"

"From?"

"Confronting your parents…"

"Honestly… No. I never really thought about confronting them, mainly because I lacked a lot of affection and warmth and stuff… But right now, everyone dear to me is supporting me. I don't need to worry about stuff anymore."

_"__Plus Kaidou and Caesar won't bother me anymore."_

"Still, I think you're parents are horrible persons!"

"Oh yes they are," Doflamingo agreed before laughing again. Right now, everything looked like a joke. A child's riddle. And now Doflamingo had all the pieces to solve it. He was… Excited. He wanted to see how his parents would react.

"Still… Our parents don't know about our relationship… Nor the fact that we're gang-leaders… Fufufufu~… This is going to be fun!"

Rocinante couldn't help but shiver at this. Even now, Doflamingo was still a complex man and he was far from having solved that.

There were still things he needed to know, to learn.

_"__But I have time. We'll be together for a life-time after all."_

**A/N: Sorry, very short chapter… But I won't manage on making it 9 pages like the other ones… But I'll upload the other chapter tomorrow! So please forgive me *runs away while covering herself with the Donquixote-coats***

**Doflamingo: Give those back! Screw that, give me my image back!**


	15. The Marriage

**A/N: I think there will be three more chapters (not including this one) and maybe an epilogue to come.**

"We do…" Rocinante and Doflamingo said in unison.

Hooming and Hiroko couldn't help but be surprised. Nana and Ryuujirou on the other hand, couldn't be any happier.

"Rocinante," Hooming started.

"It's okay, isn't it? Father?" Rocinante replied: "No one has to know Dorathia and Doflamingo are the same!"

"Pretty smart," Ryuujirou complimented the Hart-heir: "Marrying Dorathia on the outside."

Rocinante just gave the man a sour look.

"We do have a request," Doflamingo started: "The wedding has to take place here."

_"We already gave CP9 the address after all."_

"I don't think that's a problem," Nana looked at the Hart-couple.

"Of course not," Hiroko shook her head: "I'm just glad the problem was solved so easily."

Rocinante gave his mother a small nod, which meant he needed to talk to her after the conversation was over.

"Well then," Ryuujirou said: "I guess we should start organizing. Hart, you're coming with us."

Hooming reluctantly followed the Donquixote's but not before patting Rocinante onto his back and embracing Doflamingo.

"Why did he do that?" Doflamingo raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Well you're going to be family from tomorrow on," Hiroko smiled: "But I do believe there's a bigger story behind all this… Care to explain?"

"Doflamingo and I already met each other once in town," Rocinante starts.

"Yeah and we kind of…"

"Slept with each other?" Hiroko teased.

"Mother… How…"

"A woman's intuition," Hiroko replied: "Well, I'm glad you guys do truly love each other. That will make this marriage much better."

"About that… It seems the reason for the Donquixote's their behaviour is the fact they're almost broke."

"What a bunch of disgusting people. I'm not talking about you though, Dora-… Aah, I guess I should call you Doflamingo now?"

"Well, yeah," Doflamingo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. It was the first time he spoke to someone like her. Most of the times it were people of the street. They didn't care about appearances or wealth. They just tried to survive. But Hiroko was different. She was a noble as well and seemed like a strong and gentle woman. Not to mention she'd be his mother-in-law tomorrow. Rocinante noticed Doflamingo's blush and smirked.

"What are you doing?" Doflamingo shot him a glare, causing Rocinante to smile.

"Well then," Hiroko sighed: "Doflamingo? What kind of wedding dress are you going to wear?"

Doflamingo paled and tried his best to keep his face straight: "Well…"

"Shall I help you?" Hiroko smiled: "I've always wanted to choose a wedding dress for someone…"

"Why not choosing a wedding dress for Rocinante?" Doflamingo laughed. Hiroko laughed as well: "That's a good idea! No one sees the difference either."

"Mother!" Rocinante yelled out in shock.

Doflamingo just shot Rocinante a teasing glance, causing Rocinante to sigh in defeat.

"Women are crazy after all."

"Hey!" Doflamingo and Hiroko let out in unison.

"Then, let's go Doflamingo!" Hiroko smiled.

"Sure… But um… I can't really… Choose… One like this…"

"Don't worry about it," Hiroko just kept on smiling: "You're about as tall as me and a bit taller than Rocinante. And you're pretty slim."

"Okay…"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Rocinante almost pouted.

"When Hooming is ready, you can go suit-shopping."

"But I already have one!"

Hiroko playfully whacked Rocinante onto his head: "Now sweetheart, you can't use that one for your marriage, can you?"

"I guess," Rocinante practically rolled his eyes.

"Let's go," Hiroko gave Doflamingo an encouraging nod and together they left.

~0~

"Then what about this?" Hiroko said as she pointed at one.

"Doesn't that look…? A bit… Weird?"

"Men," Hiroko shook her head: "No taste in dresses."

Doflamingo just sheepishly laughed. He was afraid. Not afraid of Hiroko, but rather of disappointing her. He didn't want to disappoint or hurt her, so he had to be careful with what he did.

"This one?"

"Too expensive."

"Now dear," Hiroko smiled: "Don't worry about that part. I've got that one."

This _did_ shock Doflamingo.

"But Miss…"

"Call me Hiroko," she smiled, already searching for another one.

"Miss Hiroko, I can't possibly accept that!"

"You can," she replied, poking Doflamingo's nose: "So stop worrying and start looking!"

"But…"

"It's okay isn't it? You're family now. And I don't mind spending money on the most beautiful day of your life!"

"But I'm not real family!"

"Of course you are!" Hiroko replied and Doflamingo could feel she was getting a bit angry with him: "You love my son don't you? That makes you family!"

"O-Okay," Doflamingo stuttered. He didn't want to make her angry.

Hiroko relaxed again: "Then what about this one?"

"Seems good."

"It does, doesn't it? Alright, let's see," she held the dress in front of him: "I think it fits, don't you think."

"Yes…"

"You can always say what you want, Doflamingo. I don't bite. I only bite at Rocinante when he puts his fingers in the food."

Imagining Rocinante pouting while Hiroko scolded him did amuse Doflamingo.

"Then… What about that one?"

"Hm?" Hiroko started smiling: "So you like that kind?"

"Not really… I just think it looks… Pretty…"

"Maybe you do have some taste after all," Hiroko teasingly punched Doflamingo into his arm and Doflamingo had admit, she had a decent amount of power.

"Alright, let's see~…"

~0~

When Doflamingo and Hiroko arrived back at the house, Rocinante and Hooming were already in the living room.

"Hm… Where are Nana and Ryuujirou?" Hiroko inquired.

"Arranging some stuff," Hooming shrugged.

"Darling, I do hope you picked something suitable," Hiroko said with a hint of anger in her eyes. Hooming stuttered back.

"Of course I did."

"Then it's okay," Hiroko's sweet smile appeared again: "Oh I'm so excited! Tomorrow you guys will be officially married!"

"Yeah… It's getting late. I highly suggest eating dinner and then go sleeping."

"Doflamingo, we already prepared a room for you…" Hiroko turned towards the blond.

"Wait…We aren't staying in the same room?" Rocinante raised his eyebrow.

"Of course not," Hiroko laughed: "We wouldn't want a quarrel right before your marriage hm?"

~0~

Chaos.

That was what it was.

Everywhere servants and maids were running, preparing everything. The whole garden had been decorated and prepared. An altar had been placed, consisting of dark wood, decorated by multiple flowers.

Nana and Ryuujirou however, hadn't showed up yet during breakfast. This alarmed Doflamingo, so he asked Rocinante where the safe was.

"You think they'd already steal?"

"Of course," Doflamingo nodded in reply: "Don't underestimate those two."

"I won't…" Rocinante replied.

Before noon, CP9 arrived, completely in suits and Kalifa in a beautiful dress. They introduced themselves as Doflamingo's friends, so Hooming and Hiroko weren't too wary of them.

And then it was almost time.

Hooming took Rocinante with him and Hiroko guided Doflamingo to the bathroom.

"Well then dear, time to get ready!"

~0~

"I'm stressed," Rocinante admitted as he looked into the mirror while his father dressed him.

"Don't be," Hooming reassured him: "Everything will be fine."

"But what if I trip on my way to the altar?"

"You're supposed to be already at the altar when Doflamingo arrives…" Hooming rolled his eyes: "Seriously? Where does your stress come from?"

"Probably from you," Rocinante teased: "I've never really seen Mom stressed."

"I guess you're right… Alright, last thing is the tie… And voila! You're done!"

"Thanks Dad."

"Don't worry about it."

Rocinante observed himself in the mirror. His normal blond, messy hair was now neatly combed, although it still slightly covered his eyes. He wore a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. His shoes were shining black and for once matched his outfit.

"Here," Hooming gave Rocinante a small box: "As promised."

"Thanks," Rocinante gratefully accepted the box and opened it.

"Grandma and grandpa's wedding rings."

"It's a tradition after all," Hooming laughed: "Now let's go outside. Staying inside is only going to stress you more. I believe Law is also waiting for you."

"He's gonna laugh his ass off if he sees me," Rocinante muttered.

And he was right. Law had tears in the corner of his eyes when he finally managed to catch his breath.

"What's so funny?" Rocinante growled.

"You almost look like a decent noble now."

"Haa?!" Rocinante grabbed Law in a death-lock: "I dare you to say something else, brat!"

"Ouch… Let go!" Law protested. Rocinante fatherly ruffled through his hair.

"Stop doing that!" Law growled in return as he broke free.

"By the way Law, is your father present?"

"He isn't. He might arrive later, but he had something to do."

"I see. How are your studies?"

"Pretty good."

~0~

Nervous.

Rocinante started sweating as he glanced over the crowd. They had tried to keep it small, but there were still a lot of people present. He noticed Kalifa and Kaku at the back-rows. The others of CP9 had already disappeared into the mansion.

The priest, an old man with grey hair looked rather stressed too. When his gaze met Rocinante, he gave a small nod. Seeing his eyes, Rocinante realized he probably didn't know anything about the truth.

And then he spoke. The priest started welcoming the people and invited them to stand up for a few words from the bible. Rocinante wasn't familiar with those stories, but he tried his best to pay attention.

"Now we shall start the ceremony."

And that was when _he_ arrived. Or rather, _she_.

Doflamingo's wig was present again, but this time, it was wavy and reached over his midriff. He wore a traditional white dress which at the back reached his ankles, but at the front, only reached his knees. He wore white high-heels and Rocinante couldn't help but smile as he remembered how he despised them. From the corners of his eyes, he could see the back of Doflamingo's dress was open, revealing his slightly tanned skin. Around his middle was a blue bow, complementing Doflamingo's eyes and Rocinante was glad to see both his eyes were visible. He wore white gloves which reached his elbows and of course, a traditional veil which was attached to his head with a gold-looking diadem. In his hands he held a bouquet of flowers. Red roses.

Surely his mother had chosen them. Speaking of her, surprisingly she was the one guiding Doflamingo to the altar. Rocinante couldn't help but getting angry. So Nana and Ryuujirou didn't even care enough about Doflamingo to give him away for the marriage? Hiroko however, seemed proud, a bright smile on her face as she walked next to him.

And then they stopped.

Hiroko left and Doflamingo went standing in front of Rocinante.

"We have united today, to bless the marriage between these persons."

Rocinante could see Doflamingo smiling through the veil, although there was a hint of teasing with it.

_This man and woman shall connect themselves under protection of God._

**_This man and man shall connect themselves._**

_Now then, Hart Rocinante. Do you accept Donquixote Dorathia as your wife?_

**_Now then, Hart "Corazon" Rocinante. Do you accept Donquixote "Dorathia" Doflamingo as your husband?_**

"I do," Rocinante said as he placed a ring onto Doflamingo's finger. It was a golden one, with a ruby-gem in the form of a small heart on top.

_Now then, Donquixote Dorathia? Do you accept Hart Rocinante as your husband?_

**_Now then, Donquixote "Dorathia" Doflamingo? Do you accept Hart "Corazon" Rocinante as your husband?_**

"I do."

And at that moment, Rocinante could die from happiness.

_But he wasn't the one that would die._

-End of Chapter Fifteen-


	16. Party!

_You may kiss the bride._

**_You may kiss the groom._**

"Congratulations!" Rocinante had to dodge a hug from his clingy aunt as he made his way of the altar together with Doflamingo.

"You have a pretty big family," Doflamingo complained.

"I know," Rocinante groaned in frustration. He stared at Doflamingo, causing the other one to shift nervously.

"What?"

"You look cute."

"Don't you dare," Doflamingo growled.

"Sorry…"

"Come into my arms!" Rocinante's clingy-aunt grabbed him into a death-lock and hugged him. And Doflamingo could swear he heard some bones break.

"Ugh, auntie," Rocinante tried to gasp for air.

"I'm so proud of you! Everyone thought you were too clumsy to get a bride-"

"Excuse me?!" Rocinante said in shock.

"Or that you'd pick them up and trip, causing them to break some bones-"

"Again, excuse me?!"

"But I'm so glad you finally found someone! I guess miracles do exists-!"

"Auntie, what?!"

"Even the mistakes can find solutions!"

"Does everyone think of me like that?!" Rocinante shouted as he successfully freed himself.

Doflamingo glanced around and to his amusement, he noticed several people sheepishly laughing or looking away.

"I like your family," Doflamingo chuckled in his deformed voice. Rocinante's aunt then turned towards Doflamingo.

"Oh, you should've known him as a kid," she laughed: "It was hilarious every time we stayed over. There was this time Rocinante just took a bath, so he stood up and refused to put on some clothes. He started running around naked until he slipped!"

"Auntie!" Rocinante cried out, face completely red.

"Interesting," Doflamingo giggled: "Do I need to know more?"

"No you do not!" Rocinante interjected as he grabbed Doflamingo by his arm and disappeared into the crowd.

"Our clumsy clown has grown so much," his aunt squealed.

"I _love_ your aunt," Doflamingo grinned.

"Oh really?" Rocinante almost pouted, trying his best to appear angry. Which wasn't working because his face was completely red.

"Your ears are red too."

"I know…"

"Ah, Roci!" a rather well-built man grabbed Rocinante into a hug as well, causing him to let go of Doflamingo.

"And I guess this is the beautiful Dorathia?"

Doflamingo pulled a face but did nod.

"Ah, I'm so glad for you Rocinante… So then…" the man winked at him: "I guess you guys will get 'to know' each other even better tonight."

"Eh…" Rocinante stuttered.

"It already happened though," Doflamingo said, keeping a straight face, all the while knowing he was embarrassing Rocinante. And to be honest? It felt great doing so.

Silence.

Apparently others had been listening too.

And then an applause erupted.

"Congratulations Rocinante! You actually have it in you."

"Say what?!"

"Acting like a klutz, but I guess he isn't one when doing _that_."

"Shut up cousin!"

"Oh Rocinante! You've grown so much. Never, ever would we have dared to hope you'd do-?"

"Auntie!"

"Oh yes, Rocinante's a big boy now," Hiroko teased.

"Mother!" Rocinante gasped in shock.

"Why do I never know this stuff?" Hooming looked shocked.

"Father, it's because-" Rocinante had to stop because _someone_'s laughter was louder than him.

Doflamingo was holding his stomach, laughing his heart out, wheezing and gasping for air all the while small tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

Rocinante glared before a smirk appeared on his face. So Doflamingo loved to embarrass him?

He pulled Doflamingo up to his feet and before the blond could even realize what was going on, he crashed his lips against his.

Silence.

Doflamingo pulled away after a few seconds, breathless.

And then the next round of applause.

"Hey Dorathia! You don't need to be so shy with Rocinante!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, I mean, it'd be embarrassing to know he's the dominant-"

"Excuse me?!" Doflamingo yelled out in his high-pitched voice.

"Wooh, Rocinante, what a beast-"

"Shut up Auntie!"

"Rocinante," Doflamingo growled under his breath.

"You started it," Rocinante winked back.

"Ah, the wink of innuendo's!" Rocinante's red haired cousin laughed.

"Kid, shut the hell up!"

"Well Rocinante-_san_, seems like I was worrying for nothing," Law grinned as he raised his glass: "To the klutz and his bride."

"Law!"

"To the klutz and his bride," the family echoed.

"You horrible people!" Rocinante cried out.

"I kinda dislike your family now…"

~0~

During the party, Doflamingo was unable to spot his parents. It really bothered him, until Kaku and Kalifa reassured him the others would take care of it.

After that, Rocinante's family wanted to meet Doflamingo and it was a bit exhausting. Rocinante himself didn't fully recover from the embarrassment though, as Doflamingo was given the unique chance to see his ears completely red for the rest of the time. No, he was not letting Rocinante live this down.

"This is all your fault," Rocinante almost pouted, causing Doflamingo to laugh even more.

"But it's fun right?"

"You seem to be enjoying this."

_Of course I am._

It was the first time Doflamingo had seen such a huge, close family. In his live, he had only known his parents and that far-far-far-relative who died when he was three. But this family… It seemed they all knew each other pretty well.

"You okay?" Rocinante innocently blinked and once again, Doflamingo was reminded on a puppy.

"Yeah," Doflamingo gave a nod in reply.

"By the way, shouldn't you go cut the cake?"

"Perhaps… Or I'd rather have my family starve to dead for embarrassing me."

"Sounds great, let's go murder somebody," Doflamingo grinned, causing Rocinante to pale and trip.

"Dorathia!"

"What?" Doflamingo sadistically chuckled as he walked over to the table.

"Dividing the cake?" Hiroko asked as she walked over.

"Yeah-" from the corner of his eye, Doflamingo could see Nana and Ryuujirou talking to Rocinante's aunt. A part of him wanted to walk up to them and grab the woman with him. Who knows what his parents were talking about? On the other hand, he was relieved to see them, if only so he knew what they were up to.

Seems like his wish was granted, as he saw Rocinante dragging his aunt away, into the direction of Hiroko and him.

"Come on Auntie, help us dividing this colossal cake," Rocinante exaggerated as he subtly winked at Doflamingo, who on his turn gave an approving nod. Hiroko noticed something was off but didn't question it. Instead, she handed them the knife.

"Go on."

"Alright, I guess I'll help, or our clumsy-"

"Auntie!"

The woman laughed as she took Doflamingo's hand.

"Come on sweetie, I'll show you how to divide them. A woman has to be strong these days. Especially with a groom like-"

"Auntie!"

Doflamingo just laughed as well. Oh yes, he did quiet like this woman. And not only because he could see Rocinante getting redder.

~0~

The sun was down and the lights scattered across the garden where doing their best to illuminate the place. Most people had gone home but some were still there. Law and that red-haired guy, Kid had disappeared. Rocinante's aunt was drunkenly dancing around with Hooming, who tried his best to escape, several of the cousins and nieces were sitting down, talking and Hiroko was enjoying the evening.

"Come on," Rocinante said as he and Doflamingo tried their best to escape.

"I don't think they'll notice… For now."

Rocinante chuckled and they sat down under the big three near the edge of the garden.

"I must say… This was a pretty… Unique day, fufufufu~," Doflamingo laughed. Rocinante pulled him closer into a hug and for the moment, only their breaths could be heard.

_"This feels right,"_ Doflamingo thought as he closed his eyes: _"I feel safe. This man is someone from a different world. He's so different yet so strong on his own. He's the one I want to stay with."_

Rocinante gave Doflamingo a peck onto his cheek.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Sleep," Doflamingo murmured, causing Rocinante to smile.

A high-pitched scream and the sound of glass shattering cut through the romantic silence which had been lingering around.

"Pull the goddamn trigger!"

-End of Chapter Sixteen-


	17. The End

Rocinante and Doflamingo stared at each other in shock before they jumped up. Doflamingo cursed and threw his high-heels away before catching up with Rocinante, who was clumsily hurrying over to the house.

Hiroko, Kid, Law, Hooming, Aunt hurried over as well. The cousins and nieces however, stayed outside, scared to death.

"What was that?!" Rocinante yelled to Doflamingo.

"I don't know. Where are Kaku and Kalifa?"

"I haven't seen them…"

"Shit!"

The people forced themselves through the front-gate and went to the living room.

Blood.

Bodies.

Laughter.

Hiroko screamed at the top of her lungs before fainting. Hooming caught her, eyes widened in shock.

Rocinante tried his best not to throw up as his Aunt staggered back and grabbed her heart.

Kid and Law just stared.

Kalifa was lying on the dining table, head severely bleeding. Someone must've repeatedly slammed her head against the table, Doflamingo concluded.

Kaku was sitting against the wall, pierced by one of the antique swords which had been hanging from the wall above the fireplace.

Kumadori was lying passed out on the floor and next to him was Jabra, also unconscious. The only one left standing was Lucci with Hattori the pigeon on his shoulder.

Nana was pointing a flintlock at him, as was Ryuujirou.

Doflamingo narrowed his eyes.

The safe behind the Donquixote's was open and a bag stood under it.

"Thieves!" aunt cried out as she stormed forward, only to stop as Ryuujirou held the gun towards her.

"Shut your hole!"

"You guys," Law hissed as Kid took a fighting stance.

"Doflamingo, I guess you did have some worth after all. If not for you, we would've never had this safe…" Ryuujirou laughed.

"Doflamingo?" Kid, Law and the aunt echoed, clearly not catching up.

"You played very well," Nana continued: "Pretending those scars were given by us, while they were just from the streets."

Doflamingo gritted his teeth. He did catch up with what his parents were trying.

"Doflamingo?" Hooming stammered.

"It's a lie," Doflamingo told him, using his normal voice, scaring the crap out of Kid, Law and aunt.

"What the hell?"

"It's not a lie," Nana giggled: "After all, what a coincidence _those_ two gang-leaders met each other. For all we know, another gang could've interrupted."

"Gang-leaders?" everyone besides Rocinante, Doflamingo and Law echoed and once again they stared at the two.

"Ehe…" Rocinante sheepishly laughed, full panic-mode on.

"We set up this plan a year ago. We saw straight through your son's disguise…"

"…?" Rocinante turned towards Doflamingo and whispered: "How do they know I'm a gang leader?"

"Don't ask me," Doflamingo bit back.

"Ah yes, we asked _her_."

Coming from the shadows, was no one other than Monet.

"Monet!" Law and Rocinante yelled in unison.

"Fuufuu, it wasn't difficult tracking Rocinante down. Or should I say, "Corazon"?"

"You traitor!" Law growled.

"Shut that annoying mouth of yours," Monet growled as she threw a knife at Law. Kid harshly pulled him onto the ground and caught it.

"You wanna try me, bitch?" he growled as he stormed forwards. Monet pulled a dagger, as did Kid and soon they started battling.

"This was all set up? By all of you?"

"You fool!" Nana laughed: "Do you really think Rocinante agreed to something this stupid? We had Doflamingo manipulate him from the-"

"Shut up!" Rocinante screamed and this time, it send shivers up Doflamingo's spine.

"You're just a pair of filthy liars. Marrying Doflamingo was my choice, and he marrying me was _his_ choice. Even when you lie, you won't be able to break us apart."

Doflamingo noticed Kaku standing up, slowly, all the while giving him a determinate nod. Doflamingo shook his head, panicking. Kaku just smiled at him before he fully stood up.

"Assholes!" he launched forwards, knocking Ryuujirou of balance. Out of shock, the man fired a bullet, hitting Kaku into the shoulder, but the assassin did not give up as he punched the man into his face, causing him to lose conscious.

"That was for Doffy _and_ Kalifa!" he spoke.

"You asshole! Ugh!" the air was knocked out of Nana as Kid threw Monet onto her.

"No one throws a knife at Law!" the red-hair exclaimed and to Doflamingo's surprise, he saw the raven blushing a bit.

"Baka-stass-_ya_, don't always do such reckless things!"

"You… At the very last," Nana muttered under her breath.

"Rocinante, get the _fuck_ down!" Doflamingo threw Rocinante onto the floor and soon a sharp pain spread itself in his head. The world started spinning and darkness started taking over.

_Even if I end up dying like this…_

"What just-?!"

_I won't regret it…_

"Oi, Dorathia!"

_Because I was able…_

"No, no, no, no, no!"

_To love you._

"DOFLAMINGO!"

_I love you Rocinante…_

~0~

"I want an explanation," Hiroko whispered with a broken voice. Currently, Aunt, Hooming, Law, Kid, Hiroko and Rocinante were sitting in the hospital.

Doflamingo was getting treated, CP9 had arrested both Nana and Ryuujirou and also sent homewards the left-over cousins and nieces.

And Rocinante spoke.

And he did not stop.

When he did stop, it was dead-silent. Hiroko had her eyes closed, a neutral and calm expression on her face.

Hooming was deeply shocked and stared at the ground.

Law sighed, Kid stared and Aunt needed a glass of water to calm down.

"I'm sorry…"

"You're sorry?"

Rocinante would've done everything to make it up. Seeing tears, tears in the eyes of _her_. Of the woman he admired and loved. His mother, who had guided him and had always been there for him.

Seeing her cry was the last thing he ever wanted. Yet she was crying and he could understand.

Hooming had a look of disappointment on his face as he pulled his wife into a hug, who was now crying and sobbing, letting out heart-broken cries. Aunt stared at her hands and avoided Rocinante's begging gaze. Law shifted nervously and Kid was furious, refusing to look at the raven.

Secrets.

Rocinante would've done everything, anything, to make up.

But that all slipped away from him the moment the doctor arrived, as did it with the others. They all looked up at the man like he was an angel send by God, which at that moment, might've been so.

"And?" Rocinante asked.

"It's difficult to say…" the man started.

"Did something go wrong?" Aunt panicked.

"Not necessary, please calm down," the doctor said: "The operation went good. We successfully removed Donquixote's left eye…"

"Wait, you removed it?" Rocinante started panicking.

"Please calm down sir," the doctor continued: "Yes we had to. The bullet had completely pierced it, causing bleedings. If we had left it inside the eye-socket, infection is one of the few things possible. However, Donquixote was quiet lucky, as the bullet did not hit any parts of importance inside his head. Now the bad news is…"

"There's even more bad news?"

"He doesn't wake up."

~0~

"Hey Doffy," Rocinante whispered as he sat down next to him. He was lying on a bed with white sheets, just like that. Like he was still asleep, tired of the wedding. It was past midnight, so it was a plausible expla-

"No," Rocinante scolded himself: "I won't lie anymore."

Doflamingo's wig and wedding outfit had been removed. He was just wearing a plain white robe and a bandage was wrapped over his left eye.

"They say you'll need to get an artificial eye. But I guess that won't be a problem right?" Rocinante weakly smiled before he bursted into tears.

"Oh please Doffy… Wake up…. Don't leave me."

He grabbed his hand.

"Please Death, skip this one… Please…"

Rocinante cried before he noticed something.

Cold.

The warmth of Doflamingo's hand was flowing away at lightning speed.

"God no, God no, God no, God no," Rocinante repeated over and over as he shakily stood up and pressed his ear against Doflamingo's chest.

"God no, God no, God no, God no," he took a hold of his wrist.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he pressed his finger on Doflamingo's neck, feeling for the vein.

_God no…._

_Please Death…_

_Skip this one._

"NO!"

-End of Chapter Seventeen-


	18. The bird with the Wings

**A/N: Imaginary cookie for all those who get what I did with the title °w^**

**Trigger warnings! Underage sex, abuse, rape, torture, graphic violence, foul language, drugs, blood and wounds.**

**Skip this chapter if you feel already uncomfortable reading these warnings! I repeat, do not force yourself to read this! If you can't read this chapter, jump to the Author note at the bottom, where I shall shortly describe this chapter.**

_Silence._

_Doflamingo slowly opened his eyes. They hurt. Everything hurt. It felt like there was a fire inside of his head._

_He slowly raised his hand and brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. His hair felt weird. It felt weird to feel._

_"Where am I?"_

_He slowly stood up and noticed just how much it hurt. And that was when the horrible truth hit him._

_He was stark-naked._

_"What?"_

_"You're awake?" a cold voice cut through the silence. A shadow came towards his direction._

_Doflamingo immediately started shaking and sweating, shaking his head._

_"No…"_

_Before he noticed the shadow slipped past him._

_"No!" a voice cried out._

_It was a young boy. He had been stripped down too. Bright, blue eyes with only despair in them._

_Blond, spiky hair, pointing in every direction._

_That was funny. If he combed it back like Doflamingo usually did, their hair would be the same. That was new. He had never seen anyone before with the same hair-style._

_The boy started fighting as the shadow picked him up._

_"No, let go of me!" he sobbed as he started punching, pulling and kicking._

_"Just shut up!" the man delivered a hit right on top of the boy's head, causing the boy to cry out in pain before giving in. The man left the room, leaving the door open. So of course Doflamingo followed. The corridor was dark, with a few candles giving some light. He followed the boy's sobs, arriving in another room. A king-sized bed with white sheets and some candles._

_The boy was thrown onto the bed and his hands were shackled. Around his neck a collar attached to the wall. The boy curled up into a terrified ball. Doflamingo wanted to reach out, so he did, only to be shocked when he could make contact with the boy._

_"Mister?" the boy sobbed before the turned pale white. Another shadow, larger than the first one, slipped through Doflamingo as he pushed the boy against the bed._

_"No…" Doflamingo whispered, but it was too late. The picture burned itself into his mind as he the sounds pierced through him._

_"No! Let go! I can't! It's!"_

_Doflamingo saw drops of blood spilling onto the sheets as the bed made creaking noises. The boy was couching up saliva and blood as he kept on screaming for help. The man bit down into the delicate skin._

_More screams._

_More blood._

_More tears._

_More torture._

_Doflamingo felt the need to show kindness to the boy. He needed to. So he went over to the boy and patted him onto the head._

_"No one's going to save you," Doflamingo softly smiled. The boy hiccupped and stared._

_"So save yourself and just let it happen. Don't tire yourself even more."_

_The boy gave a nod and closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. Doflamingo softly wiped them away._

_"There's nothing you can do…"_

_Everything started fading around Doflamingo. It felt like a whirlpool, sucking him down, so as a reflex, Doflamingo covered his eyes with his arms._

_When he opened them, he saw the same boy. He was shackled at his ankles and wrists and a collar had been attacked to the bar of a…_

_Golden birdcage._

_It was like a standard birdcage, only bigger and made out of pure gold._

_"Shurororororo!" another shadow appeared. This one was slim and tall._

_"So? What do you think of your new home?"_

_"I don't like it…" the boy whispered: "Please let me go…"_

_"Hm? Pretty big words from a homeless brat as **you**!" the shadows used a stick to stab the boy. He coughed as his hair was pulled and soon his face repeatedly hit the bars._

_"No, stop!"_

_More screams._

_More blood._

_More tears._

_More torture._

_Once again, Doflamingo stepped forward. He slipped through the birdcage and hugged the boy._

_"Don't speak your mind… Agree and let go."_

_"But I don't want to…" the boy replied, determination showing: "I don't want to become a mindless puppet who is afraid of speaking his mind."_

_"Why not?"_

_"I don't want to become you…"_

_Doflamingo._

_Doflamingo._

_Doflamingo._

_Doflamingo stared in front of him as the scene faded away._

_He started laughing._

_Mad laughter, filling his ears. But that was right. It was his own voice._

_"That's right! Fufufufu! That boy! That was nothing more than the ugly creature I am! Hehehehe! How could I forgive? The only one cowardly enough to act like that! It's me isn't it?! Ahahahaha! This is what I am right?"_

_The darkness started changing at top-speed._

_"Take this," a young boy with black hair._

_"Vergo," Doflamingo whispered._

_In his hand, the boy held white powder: "It'll make you feel better. I was going to take it, but you can have it."_

_Change._

_"You stupid shit!" the little boy was back, this time the life was getting choked out of him._

_"Open that slutty mouth of yours."_

_The boy reluctantly accepted the man's member inside, coughing and trying to gasp for air._

_Change._

_"You useless!" Nana cried out as she repeatedly stabbed the boy's back with her high-heels. Blood started flowing._

_She dragged the tip down._

_Scars._

_Scars._

_Suddenly Doflamingo was standing inside of blood. It started rising, no end visible. It reached his lips, nose, eyes and ears. It suffocated him._

_The familiar taste of metal filled him. He smelled it, tasted it, felt it._

_He drowned._

_Change._

_"Useless!" Nana screamed as she dropped a chair on top of the boy's head._

_Change._

_Two shadows pushed the boy down as a third entered._

_"I'll have some fun with you."_

_Change._

_Trébol telling the boy what to do._

_Change._

_Disco coming closer with a needle towards the boy._

_Change._

_Disco repeatedly hitting the boy's left eye, over and over._

_More screams._

_More blood._

_More tears._

_More torture._

_Change._

_Change._

_Change._

_Change._

_Change, change, change._

_"Stop it!" Doflamingo cried out and soon, everything became white._

_…_

_"You finally said it."_

_Turning around, he saw the boy. Completely covered in his own blood, as well as that oh so familiar white, sticky stuff. Dried tears, old wounds and scars, but those eyes._

_Full of determination._

_"But you're late… Doflamingo…"_

_"…"_

_"Because you were afraid… You pushed me way too far Doffy. You pushed yourself way too far. In almost every way."_

_"Who… Are you?"_

_"I'm your childhood," the boy emotionlessly said as he started walking._

_"I'm the dreams, hopes, imagination…"_

_"…"_

_"I am you… From so long ago. I am the you who disappeared. Because of what they did. Because of what you didn't. I died Doffy. Painfully. Slowly. But you closed your eyes. You refused to hear me. But that's okay."_

_"But…"_

_"Because you too…"_

_"…?"_

_"Were a kid."_

_The boy swirled around._

_"Do you love me Doffy?"_

_"What?"_

_"Do you love you Doffy?"_

_"Why?"_

_"You can't answer," the boy said as he came closer: "Because you don't."_

_"I…"_

_"You called yourself ugly. An ugly creature. You called me an ugly creature."_

_"I didn't want to call you that."_

_"You only say that because you assume I'm someone else. Did you ever apologize to yourself?"_

_"No…"_

_"I can't protect you anymore Doffy… I can't put your mind at ease during the night. Not anymore. But… I'll leave the most important choice up to you Doffy. What shall you do? What shall I do? With that strange man crying over there?_

_"Doffy… If you can hear me, please come back to me."_

_A beautiful stranger. Doflamingo was unable to see him though. Only a vague contour of him._

_"I love you so please… Stay with me…"_

_"He's reaching out to you," the boy said before he pulled Doflamingo into an embrace: "Farewell Doffy… Sweet dreams…"_

_Doflamingo felt himself sinking away._

_"NO!" Doflamingo struggled as he dashed forwards and grabbed the hand._

_"You finally did it," and he smiled._

_A smile so pure, so bright. So innocent and so wise. The boy waved at Doflamingo, swirled around and vanished._

_The stranger pulled Doflamingo with him and suddenly, he felt like they were flying._

~0~

"Welcome back Doffy. I missed you so much. We have a lot to talk about."

"Let… Me… Talk… First…"

"Sure…"

"I love you."

"I love you too Doffy. Forever and ever."

"Don't… Let me go… Again… It was lonely…"

"I won't."

-End of Chapter Eighteen-

**A/N: While Doflamingo is slipping away, he sees his horrible past from third point of view. Trying to help his past-self, his past-self confronts him with the fact it was wrong of Doflamingo to take all that abuse. Eventually, Doflamingo sees a stranger reaching out to him. He decides to choose, making his past-self compliment him for finally making his own choices. Taking that hand, he wakes up, where Rocinante is still waiting for him.**


	19. Epilogue

**A/N: If you have some time left, please read the last author note at the end ;)**

-Seven Years Later-

"I still love Mommy though."

Rocinante couldn't handle it and started crying.

"Oh Dorothea!" he stared at the brown-haired girl like she was an angel. Brown, slightly reddish eyes blinked in confusion as she observed the adult in front of her crying like a child even younger than her.

"Oi," Doflamingo sighed as he walked into the room. He crouched down next to the girl and whispered.

"What's Daddy doing?"

"Daddy's crying like a three-years old."

"Am not!" Rocinante hiccupped as he tried to stop crying.

"It's just, Doffy! I told our daughter the truth and she was okay with it."

"Why is Daddy acting weird?" Dorothea asked death-serious.

"Because Daddy is a goofball," Doflamingo replied. The two nodded at each other.

"Am not!" Rocinante jumped up.

"By the way, you should write your parents you know? The last letter we got is from two weeks ago."

"Ah, got it!"

"Let's go Dorothea. Who knows you might get infected by your Daddy."

"Hihi that would be funny. Then there would be two goofballs in this house!"

"Hey!"

Rocinante laughed before he sat down at the kitchen table, grabbing feather, paper, ink…

"_Fuck_!" Rocinante cursed as he spilled the ink all over himself. A little gasp could be heard behind Rocinante. Said one paled as he realized Dorothea was standing there.

"Mommy!"

"No, it's just-"

"Daddy said the 'f'-word!"

"…"

"ROCINANTE!"

~0~

After begging Doflamingo not to banish him to the couch for a week (to no avail), Rocinante finally started writing.

_Dear Mother, Father…_

_How are you guys there? I heard there's a problem with the warmth. But I do hope you're doing fine. What about Auntie? And Law and Kid?_

_With us, everything is fine. It's still a bit hard to getting used to France, even after all these years. But I'll be alright._

_I just told our (adopted), adorable little daughter about Doflamingo's secret and she was aa-okay with it! She's just so lovely I want to eat her. _

_(Please don't take that serious.)_

_By the way, you guys haven't even met Dorothea, have you? I guess you'll have to come over once._

_Doflamingo just recently got a new artificial eye. This one is much easier to clean, to use and the color is spot on. So far no problems with it._

_Business is going great so money isn't a problem. So please tell Auntie we have enough money to buy our own clothes._

_I do not_ _want to walk around in an apron of giraffes. Doffy might…_

_I hope to hear of you again and until then, best wishes._

_Doflamingo, Rocinante and Dorothea_

"Hey Daddy!" Dorothea said as she skipped into the kitchen: "Let's go eat some ice-cream."

"No," Rocinante pouted: "I thought we were friends!"

"It's your fault for breaking Mommy's rules."

"I guess so… But if we're in public…"

"I have to call Mommy 'Uncle' or something like that."

"Did Doffy tell you that?"

"No, I just realized that myself."

"You're really smart aren't you?"

"I'm not smart Daddy," Dorothea smiled with a hint of sadism in her eyes, alarming Rocinante: "I'm sly."

That was scary alright.

"Let's go you goofballs," Doflamingo said.

Dorothea and Rocinante gave each other a look.

"Let's go!"

They ran into the hallway.

"What?" Doflamingo turned around in confusion before Rocinante tackled him.

"Go on!"

Their daughter let out a giggle as she started to tickle Doflamingo.

"No, stop!" he cried out but soon he started laughing. They kept at it until he begged for mercy.

"This round goes to the goofballs alright!" Dorothea shouted as she high-fived her father. Meanwhile Doflamingo was trying his best to stand up. Which didn't really work out.

"If I can sleep in bed I'll help you."

"Playing dirty aren't you," Doflamingo laughed but he gave an approving nod.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"Alright, alright."

~0~

Rocinante enjoyed days like this. When they just went for some ice-cream, walking through the busy streets of France. Several people who knew them waved at them or started conversations.

But what pleased him most was Doflamingo. He was at ease. He wasn't jittery anymore, he didn't flinch. And of course Dorothea. She was literally his walking treasure.

She happily held his hand as she licked her ice-cream, occasionally looking at her parents.

Eventually they sat down on a bench in the park, inhaling the wind which was playing with the leaves. Rocinante scanned the area before he kissed Doflamingo. Dorothea just stared at them.

When Rocinante pulled away, Doflamingo gave him a teasing look: "You're really romantic aren't you?"

"Well France is the country of romance."

"Am I glad we live in here then…" Doflamingo smirked as he returned the favour.

"You're leaving me out!" Dorothea jumped up and pushed herself in-between the two men.

"Sorry sweetie."

"I'm still hungry," she whined.

Rocinante fake-sighed.

"Wanna try some macarons?" Doflamingo winked at Dorothea.

"Yeah I wanna!"

"Well then, let's go."

Rocinante picked her up and placed her onto her shoulders.

"Let's go!"

"Yay!"

Doflamingo smiled as he saw Rocinante running ahead of him with their daughter laughing and cheering.

It had been easy.

After making up with Rocinante's aunt, Hooming and Hiroko, he had broken contact with all the others. He still had some contact with Vergo and CP9 and even Crocodile (surprisingly) had somehow gotten his address. He had left the family to Diamante, because he didn't trust Trébol. Vergo said they were all doing fine and that Sugar was studying right now. How great.

Doflamingo closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. He had never expected to find peace or happiness… And even now, he was afraid. Afraid Rocinante would betray or leave him. But Rocinante promised not to. Every night, when Dorothea was asleep, Rocinante repeated those words. And every night, he added things. He kept on repeating them.

And Doflamingo didn't feel like those words lost their meaning.

It felt more like threads. Every promise was a thread which held them together. More and more of them.

"Are you coming Doffy?" Rocinante shouted from far way.

Doflamingo chuckled as he made his way over to his family.

That was right.

They were his family.

And he wouldn't let anyone harm them.

They were his happiness.

_"I love you…. Dorothea."_

_…_

_"And of course you… My sweet husband."_

Doflamingo touched his wedding ring and smiled as he tried to catch up with them. And when he did, he whispered into Rocinante's ear.

"I love you, Roci."

-The End-

**A/N: First of all, I thank you for making it this far!**

**Second of all, a big thanks to all those who read, reviewed, followed and favourite.**

**Third of all, Dorothea is their adopted daughter.**

**And yes, I went for a sweet ending. I originally had a much darker ending. Actually two. One where Rocinante goes insane after Doflamingo doesn't wake up and another one where all the people from Doflamingo's past (literally) catch up with him. But the canon-story was already too depressing, so there ya go, have some sweet fluff. I really do like this ending!**

**I hope you enjoyed this story, had a laugh or something and I'd really appreciate it if you could give me a review based on the complete story (constructive criticism is always welcome). And yes, I do know they're all OOC XD Oh and also, what was your favourite chapter? Mine definitely the 'party'-chapter.**

**Littlelion over and out!**


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